Cheema back after injury stalls progress
Dylan Cheema…looking to make statement after first pro defeat
IT’S been eight long months since Dylan Cheema’s suffered a setback just as he was on the verge of reaching the next level.
Getting back to winning ways is the priority at the Eastside Rooms, Birmingham, when BCB Promotions host a Sunday show on July 30.
Redemption will be vital to Cheema after tasting defeat for the first time as a professional back in November.
The 27-year-old lightweight, from Coventry, was appearing on a Sky Sports televised bill for the third time in just his eighth pro contest.
But it was under the Manchester Arena lights where Cheema was thwarted by Jordan Ellison in what was meant to complete his four-round apprenticeship.
Ellison took full advantage of an under-par display to beat him by a slender margin, with just one point separating the two at the final bell, 39-38.
Further misfortune was to befall Cheema when he suffered an arm injury, while training, which cost him a place on another Sky Sports bill, in Birmingham, on May 6.
He’s now fully recovered and looking to make a name for himself again, a name first established last year when he won the BOXXER tournament.
The £40,000 prize and a long-term promotional contract was his, at the conclusion of an eight-man, one-night winner-take-all tournament, broadcast live on Sky Sports.
He landed his maiden TKO, as a pro, against Otis Lookham in one round, before outpointing Scott Melvin and Rylan Charlton, by a split decision and unanimous verdict respectively.
Cheema went on to score another stoppage, at the Eastside Rooms, against Anto Nakic in two round,s and has also outpointed Lee Connelly, Jahifeus Faure and Stu Greener.
His pro record stands at 7-1, going into his ninth fight. The former two-weight world kickboxing champion is trained by Richard Waller, Simon Akufo-Tetteh and Baggi Singh.
Cheema said: “I’ve worked on a few fundamentals, while I’ve been on the mend, and I’m confident that I will come back better than ever.
“I’ve actually had problems with both of my elbows. My right arm was hurting m, in my last fight, but I wouldn’t use that as an excuse. We all get injuries.
“The doctor found that five small pieces of bone had chipped off my elbow, so I had to have keyhole surgery in December. I got over that and started training again, on track for May.
“Then my left arm went. There were 10 pieces of bone, floating around in that elbow! I couldn’t box and needed more surgery, which had to heal.
“The recovery was really quick, though. In six weeks, I was able to do shadow boxing. In eight weeks, I was back up to 90 per cent and, by 10 weeks, I was having a final check-up.
“I believe that everything happens for a reason and, in some ways, the time off helped me. I’d rather have these problems now, at an early stage of my career, than down the line.
“Shadow boxing allowed me to concentrate on my head movement and foot-work. I went back to the drawing board after the loss and looked at how I could improve.
“I thought that I’d done enough to nick the win on that night or, at worse, it could have been a draw. As deflated as it made me, nothing is going to over-turn the result.
“People suffer losses, it happens. I’ve been beaten, in kickboxing, and bounced back stronger, so that’s what I want to happen again.”
*Tickets for the Eastside Rooms bill are available, priced at £40 standard or £75 VIP ringside, directly from the boxers or by visiting myfighttickets.com.