Whenever a boxing match takes place, it can frequently be suggested that the boxers are battling it out as if to the death. A life or death scenario, if you will. Yet, when it comes to boxer Ted Cheeseman, he actually had cause to be in such a situation. Towards the closing moments of one of the biggest fights of his life, he wanted to be on the receiving end of some immense punishment.
At that point, he had hit rock bottom, having already gambled away the thousands of pounds he had been paid to put his unbeaten record on the line. And it wasn’t for the first time that Cheeseman was essentially risking his own life in a fight for free. While it has been one year since his last bet was placed, he says that fears and believes that many others are going through the same sort of “torture” that he was with regard to fighting gambling addiction.
Cheeseman is only 24 years old, but he knows all about the stories told by people attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings. His viewpoint on the subject is that everyone reaches a significant low point, that is required to jolt them into some sort of decisive action in tackling it. His own moment of clarity came during a bout against Sergio Garcia in February 2019. There, he suffered his first loss, encountering a points defeat to the Spaniard for the European super-welterweight title in front of a packed O2 Arena.
Cheeseman Vouches for Responsible Gambling
While people watched Cheeseman suffer his first defeat, nobody was aware of the internal struggle he was suffering through. That brough quite the climax to a two-week period where he had gambled away his entire fight purse. At one stage, he had won most of it back before he blew around £30,000 again prior to stepping out as the home fighter.
“Gambling is like an up-and-down process. One day you lose five grand, you feel low, hate yourself, hate boxing, want to kill yourself – all of those emotions”, Cheeseman said in an interview with BBC Sports. It’s a sad story, and it’s one that has affected numerous people already. Like multiple others, Cheeseman had participated in gambling since his teen years, engaging in fixed odds betting terminals gambling, time spent at the bookies and more.
In the weeks after his loss to Garcia, Cheeseman staked a £20 wager on the Grand National, where he would normally have bet thousands of pounds. While he hasn’t placed any sort of bet since then, he now advocates for responsible gambling, and doing this at a responsible and respectable online sportsbook. One site that can provide this is 10Cric, but if you don’t believe us, you can read the 10Cric review by Efirbet and see what information it provides on the platform. This affords both desktop and mobile sports betting to occur, and while there are promotions available to take advantage of too, it provides players with a safe location to enjoy. It also advocates for responsible gambling to occur.
