by Shaun Brown
Ted Cheeseman produced a mature performance against Aristides Quintero at York Hall tonight.
Cheesy puns aside, the English super welterweight champion showed terrific variety of shots and varying degrees of power to keep his Spanish opponent unsettled.
Quintero was nailed more often than not on the inside with the Cheeseman uppercut frequently snapping the 25-year-old's head back.
The tall and rangy Quintero was always in the fight and looked to throw long shots but Cheeseman could see them coming and would catch them before firing back with his own artillery.
Cheeseman was the main aggressor, the heavier handed and in the third showed his range by moving the jab to head and body. The quantity was with the Brit as well as the quality. A sickening uppercut near the end of the session proving that he was the superior fighter.
The 22-year-old showed discipline with shots too, never looking to land the big punches every time he threw one. Quintero tried to unsettle Cheeseman himself with his own movement, but found his foe moving right to left to counter his own plans before catching him with more eye catching work.
With good upper body movement displayed in the fifth Cheeseman began to go through the gears against Quintero, and was confident enough to move back to the ropes to invite Quintero on to him. With under 30 seconds to go Quintero fell into the trap after being caught with a body shot that saw his hands drop, before Cheeseman landed another accurate uppercut followed by a left-right combination which saw Quintero crumple. Despite spitting his gumshield out to buy him more time referee Chas Coakley waved the bout off.
"He's a really tough operator. He gave me a test. Felt really good, felt really sharp," Cheeseman said afterwards.
"Tonight I had 8 rounds and my opponent had only lost to really good opponents. I knew he could punch a bit. I took my time and let my shots come."
"I knew I hurt him to the body because his hands went low," he said of the ending.
One eye is now cast on Cheeseman challenging for the British title at 154lbs, currently held by Liam Williams. The Welshman, who rematches Liam Smith next month, could vacate the Lonsdale belt allowing Cheeseman to possibly face the winner of JJ Metcalf and Damon Jones with the pair scheduled to meet in Leeds on October 21 in a British title eliminator.
Cheeseman's trainer Tony Sims believes his man is ready for the step up.
"That was a little test for him tonight.
"Ted took his time. He's developing all the time. I think he's ready to take that step up."
Cheeseman added: "I'm not scared to fight anyone and when Tony and [promoter] Eddie (Hearn) think I'm ready to fight for the British title I'll fight for it. Whoever they put in front of me I'll never say no."
