By Keith Idec
Even Kieron Conway seemed surprised when the scores of his fight with Ted Cheeseman were announced Friday night.
Cheeseman appeared to bounce back from his first defeat in workmanlike fashion and out-landed Conway in their 12-round junior middleweight match at York Hall in London. But only one judge, Terry O’Connor, scored their fight for Cheeseman (115-114), who was forced to settle for a split draw.
Judge Marcus McDonnell scored their bout 116-113 for Conway (12-1-1, 3 KOs). Judge Bob Williams had it even, 114-114.
London’s Cheeseman (15-1-1, 9 KOs) fought for the first time since Spain’s Sergio Garcia (29-0, 13 KOs) beat him by unanimous decision in their 12-rounder February 2 at O2 Arena in London. Garcia exploited Cheeseman’s defensive deficiencies in that bout and won by big margins on two of the three scorecards (119-109, 119-109 and 115-114).
Conway had not been scheduled to box more than eight rounds in any of his professional bouts before facing Cheeseman in their 12-rounder. Cheeseman seemed to wear down Conway during the later rounds, but their bout was closer on the scorecards than it looked.
Cheeseman kept pressing forward throughout the 11th and 12th rounds, and consistently connected upstairs and downstairs on Conway. A right hand by Cheeseman caused Conway to hold him with about 50 seconds to go in the 10th round.
Cheeseman and Conway traded body shots early in the ninth round. Cheeseman connected with two clean left hooks to Conway’s head in the ninth round as well.
A solid left hook by Cheeseman landed about 30 seconds into the eighth round. Cheeseman spent much of the remainder of the eighth round hammering Conway to the head and body.
Conway clipped Cheeseman with two hard left hooks early in the seventh round. A right hand by Cheeseman snapped back Conway’s head with just over a minute to go in the seventh.
Conway had a strong sixth round, in which he landed several hard body shots and a left hook to the head that slowed down Cheeseman temporarily.
Conway caught Cheeseman with a solid overhand right when there were about 45 seconds left in the fifth round. That initiated a sustained exchange as Conway was backed against the ropes.
Conway tried to fend off Cheeseman by unloading head and body shots early in the fourth round. A determined Cheeseman kept coming forward, though, and landed hard body and head shots of his own.
Cheeseman clipped Conway with a hard left hook with just under two minutes to go in the third round. Cheeseman continued to attack Conway’s body for the rest of the third round and slowed down his opponent.
Conway connected with a solid body shot early in the second round, but Cheeseman countered him with a left hook up top. An overhand right by Cheeseman made Conway hold him with just over a minute remaining in the second round.
Cheeseman was aggressive during the first round and kept Conway moving backward.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.