Sergio Garcia delivered a boxing clinic on Ted Cheeseman en route to a successful title defense in the United Kingdom.
In the main event of a Matchroom Boxing card from the O2 Arena in England, Garcia defeated Cheeseman by unanimous decision to retain his European junior middleweight title. Two judges scored the bout 119-109 in favor of Garcia but it was the third judge's scored of 115-114 that drew the most attention given how unusual such a score is.
The fight was fast-paced with both men throwing punches non-stop throughout the 12 rounds. Garcia opened things up with a flurry of punches which forced Cheeseman to defend, but he eventually got his chance to retaliate. Cheeseman spent the majority of the fight moving forward on Garcia, but it was Garcia who was having an easier time landing punches, connecting with the jab on Cheeseman's face, which caused it to swell.
Cheeseman would continue moving forward, looking to land the single knockout blow as the fight got deeper. But Garcia's footwork and head movement allowed him to avoid danger throughout most of the fight. Cheeseman started the eighth round with a flurry of punches that pushed Garcia into the ropes and briefly hurt him.
It was Cheeseman's last gasp at winning the fight as he would not do much that would turn the tables in his favor for the remainder of the fight. Cheeseman would swing wildly at Garcia, but most of his punches missed their mark. The loss was Cheeseman's first of his pro career and came after beating Asinia Byfield to win the vacant British title last October.
The win was a big one for Garcia, who came into the fight ranked on three of the four major governing bodies, including being in the WBC's top five at junior middleweight, putting Garcia one step closer to fighting for a world title. It was Garcia's first European title defense since winning it this past September when he defeated Maxime Beaussire.