Former USA Boxing Member Akeem Cheatham Steps onto the Big Screen in Film Titled TKO

USA Boxing is an organization built on diversity, which can be seen in the many members who attend national events for competition, officiating, coaching, or to spectate. However, the diversity in the USA Boxing organization runs much deeper than the types of people that comprise the organization. The organization is built upon the diverse array of life experiences that its members deal with daily. For one former USA Boxing member, Akeem Cheatham, he has progressed through the USA Boxing organization as a member and now focuses on his acting career.

After collecting numerous titles as a competitor within the USA Boxing system, Cheatham now turns the focus that pushed him as a competitor into a new avenue, one that places him on digital streaming platforms and in theaters alike. In his latest venture, he has taken on a role that hits close to home for him and many other USA Boxing members, past, present and future. Cheatham recently completed filming for a movie titled TKO, in which he portrays Sean, an up-and-coming boxer who is reunited with his estranged father to begin training for a career as a professional boxer.

“It just brought me back to every experience I had competing in a national tournaments at USA Boxing events, almost going international, and you know I grew up in Vegas, so I always grew up around the people from LA and San Bernardino,” Cheatham recalls of his experience filming for TKO. “When I got the script, it just reminded me so much of those kids and my personal life, so I was really quick to just take on the script. I wanted to take on the character and start building the character as a real person.”

Cheatham was quick to participate in the film when he was offered the starring role because of what the message meant to him and so many other athletes who have grown up within the sport and the USA Boxing organization. For him, this was not a paycheck; it was personal, and it was a role that he felt passionately about because of the opportunity it presented to shed light on a group of athletes in a sport that routinely hustles day in and day out.

“I wanted it to be so realistic and so relatable to a person, especially from LA, from Compton. I wanted it to be like they knew that character from around the corner, that's how real it was. Not only the boxing character in it, but also the coaches, the storyline. It just really matched the biography and description of many kids that grew up in USA Boxing in Child Haven, in basketball and football, so I just wanted it to really relate with all those people that I grew up with and had experience with.”

While the opportunity has been critical for Cheatham's acting career, it has also granted him the opportunity to shed light on a sport that is once again on the rise for global notoriety. The ability to convey the plight of potentially thousands of young boxers at any given moment positioned his role in the film as a way to utilize his personal experience within the USA Boxing organization to amplify the message of the sport. As a child, Cheatham had dreams of representing the United States in the ring on the international stage, like so many others. However, through the discipline that he gained as a USA Boxing competitor, he found his calling on the big screen and acknowledges that he may never have gotten there had it not been for his time within the organization.

“It was absolutely important because I need to represent for all the kids that grew up in USA Boxing, and I just want to represent,” Cheatham noted on his opportunity to portray his character’s story in the film. “Representation is so important because there are many kids that grew up in USA Boxing. They do good, they want to do good. They want to be great, but sometimes they just that's not their path. Sometimes they just fall out of it [the sport]. Money problems, parental problems, all of that is something that can take a real dedicated child, who's trained hard, his or her entire life. I just wanted to represent and be able to really show people that we know your story. We understand your story, and there is a way to make your story great.”

Just like so many other USA Boxing members, Cheatham is just scratching the surface of his greatness. In boxing, just like life, individuals must roll with the punches and take on any new challenge that is presented to them. The discipline that boxing instills in grassroots competitors is a trait that more people should stand to learn. Cheatham is a product of that discipline and love for the craft, which he uses to drive him in his acting career.

“You take pride in standing out. You take pride in doing the thing that you love, even if everyone hates it. That's real love.”

One thing is certain about Cheatham’s role in this film, and that is his message for USA Boxing members who may be going through the struggle of getting through a practice, or an even more dire situation in their personal lives. He is resolute on the message that he wants his audience to take away from his portrayal in the TKO film.

“I want them to take away that no matter how bad life can get for you, personally, there's always an opportunity and there's always a way to be able to come out with something positive. It doesn't matter if someone passes away, if someone enters your life that you don't really want to enter your life, forgiveness, love and focus will always be the ingredients to have success and positivity. I want all the USA Boxers to know that they are seen and they will be seen by the whole world. USA Boxers are in the position of being leaders."

USA Boxing members can watch Akeem take on his role in the TKO film now on Tubi as a Tubi original. Cheatham is joined by notable cast members like Robert Ri’chard, Marques Houston and Clifton Powell.