Ted Cheeseman will challenge for the British super welterweight title again after coming close to retirement.
Cheeseman will take on JJ Metcalf as they fight for the vacant belt in Gibraltar as part of the card for the Dillian Whyte vs. Alexander Povetkin fight on Saturday night.
The 25-year-old fighter had held the title until losing to Scott Fitzgerald in 2019, as part of three consecutive fights without a victory. At that point, Cheeseman considered leaving the sport for good but he defeated Sam Eggington at last summer’s Fight Camp series held at Matchroom’s Brentwood headquarters.
Speaking ahead of the fight, Cheeseman explained how that win had overhauled how he looked at the sport and put him back on the up.
“It brought the confidence back, it made everything good again,” he said.
“It made it easier to train and stay in shape. If I had had another loss, I probably would have been done. But that changed things. I hated boxing for a while, but now I started to enjoy it again.”
Cheeseman’s struggles were in part down to a gambling addiction, which cost him all of his earnings for his 2019 fight with Sergio Garcia for the European title. A draw with Kieron Conway followed by defeat to Fitzgerald, coupled with a journey to move on from his gambling problems set him on a path to rebuild his career.
“I had my problems with gambling and lost, then I recovered from that and did what I needed to do, then I had two fights where I believed I won both, but I got a draw and a loss," he explained.
“That had me thinking because I was doing wrong when I was gambling, but I sorted that out I should be getting a bit of luck when I believe I am winning these fights.
“With the amateurs you fight every other week, there is not a 12-week camp building up to it. It takes a long time before you can right your wrongs in the pro game. In the amateurs one week you will be the best, the next you might be rubbish, but the week after you are back to your best again.
“Mentally I was broken, I couldn’t be bothered to train, I just started hating the sport. I was doing it because I wanted to win while my baby was alive and because I had done it for so many years, so I couldn’t just chuck it away.”
Three defences are required to win a Lonsdale belt, meaning Cheeseman has four wins ahead of him to complete his goal.
“When I fought Eggington, I felt that should have been my third defence to win the belt outright,” Cheeseman said. “Now I have to start again. As much as I would like to win the Lonsdale belt outright, I have had so many hard fights, I think I need to move on after this fight.
“It has been tons easier in training, because the confidence is back. I’m feeling good, I feel I got what I deserved and I am back on track. I feel I have leapfrogged the people who thought they had got ahead of me. Now it is a matter of getting the win, getting the British title back and then pushing on to another level after.”