‘Cheeky’ Australian veteran Nathaniel May makes another run at contention

Australian junior lightweight Nathaniel ‘Cheeky’ May is enjoying life right now.

The tough and talented 28-year-old from Bunbury in Western Australia has recently signed a three-fight deal with No Limit Boxing, who also promote The Ring’s number two junior middleweight contender and former WBO titleholder Tim Tszyu.

May (23-4, 14 KOs) has been rewarded with a headline bout against Argentina’s Jose Matias Romero (28-3, 9 KOs) over 10 rounds at the Roundhouse at the University of New South Wales in Kensington in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on July 3. The vacant IBF intercontinental title will be on the line, giving the winner a world ranking with the New Jersey-based sanctioning body.

Romero, 28, has mixed in good company. He went the distance with reigning WBA super lightweight titleholder Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz in March 2021, giving the hard-nosed Mexican a tough, close fight before ultimately losing on points. In October 2022 he was stopped in nine heats by Cuban southpaw and ex-WBO featherweight titleholder Robeisy Ramirez, stubbornly sticking around until the penultimate round after being knocked down in the opening stanza.

“He’s an awkward fighter,” May said to The Ring about Romero. “He moves very well, he’s got a good jab on him and he’s got good fundamentals. Our plan is to cut a few more angles on him than we have my past few fights. That’s basically the game plan, to cut more angles, bang him to the body and hopefully he slows down for us.”

May has been pleased with his preparation for this bout with sparring partners including a former world title challenger and one of Australia’s most talented prospects.

“Camp has been really great, actually,” May said. “I’ve been sparring Liam Wilson and Billy Polkinghorn. They’ve been pretty good rounds, but training is always good. It’s just going to be how it goes on the night, really.

“But we’re really focused to win. A victory will put me back in the rankings and hopefully I’ll get a crack at a world title next year or something.”

Romero is a durable type has been stopped just once in his four professional losses. Not easy to hit clean, he has a style that can easily frustrate opponents into making mistakes.

The relentlessly aggressive Cruz had to work hard to pull out the 114-113, 115-112 and 118-109 unanimous decision win after being docked a point in the sixth round for low blows. Ramirez had greater success with his more nuanced style and left-handed stance, something that the athletically gifted May plans to emulate.

“We’re mostly going off the Ramirez fight, to be honest,” May said of his game plan going in to the fight. “He was able to land from different angles and he was able to put him out by doing it. Basically we’re going to try to do that, just from the orthodox stance. Cut the angles like we’ve been working on and hopefully break him down a bit more and take the shots when they’re there to taken.

“He’s a tough fighter though with a hard head. We’re not going for a knockout. We are going to try to outbox him and outwork him and if the knockout comes, the knockout comes.”

If May has a flaw, it’s his refusal to reject a fight. In July 2019 he travelled to Liverpool, England to face the more experienced James ‘Jazza’ Dickens at featherweight. He was dropped twice and came up on the wrong end of the scorecards after 10 rounds. Five months later he dropped another 10-rounder to Bruno Tarimo back home in Sydney.

The back-to-back losses came the year after the early death of his longtime trainer Peter Stokes in February 2018. Stokes married his longtime sweetheart Jodie Cross on his deathbed one day before passing away from a rare form of blood cancer at the age of just 45.

The loss of his trainer hit May hard. Stokes was like a second father to him. He trained May since he was 12 years old.

“It was very hard,” May revealed. “I believe that’s why I did step away from it for a bit. I had lost the passion for it. But now I’ve got the passion back, we have set out to win a world title, so I’m going to try and do what I can do in my career now.”

When he did decide to make another run at a world title, May teamed up with trainer Gareth Williams at The Boxing Shop in Brisbane, Queensland. And for good reason.

“Me and Gareth get along quite well. Stokesy and Gareth, they were quite close in the amateur and pro scene, so it made the choice to go with Gareth a lot easier,” said May.

“It’s got to be one of the best things I’ve done so far. I was over at the Wild Card Gym in Las Angeles for awhile. That was a choice I couldn’t really say no to. It was good experience-wise, but it wasn’t for me, to be honest.”

After the brace of losses in 2019, May didn’t box again until May 2022 when he won a six round bout against Indonesian journeyman Rivo Rengkung by second round knockout in Nathan, Queensland.

After that, he took a fight against recent Jamel Herring conqueror Jackson Jon England on the Gold Coast in October 2023 after almost 18 months on the sidelines.

The fight was close. May lost the 10-rounder via split decision by scores of 97-93, 96-94 and 94-96.

As it turns out, activity matters.

That’s why the No Limit deal is so important to May. With his crowd-pleasing style and No Limit having dates to fill, the marriage between this boxer and promoter is a natural.

“No Limit are great at the moment,” May said of the domestic promotional powerhouse. “I was surprised they offered me a contract. It was a blessing. I’m looking forward to working with them.

“I’ve got another three fights with them. Earlier in my career I didn’t really have also this, so it’s good to have it now, that’s for sure.

“I’m just taking things one fight at a time at the moment. Ultimately, I do want to win a world title or at least get a crack at one. But I’m just focused on this fight at the moment and once we get past that, we’ll look for another big fight.”

A happy fighter is a dangerous fighter.

“Yeah, definitely,” May said. “I think that’s the best thing for it at the moment. I’m happy, I’m training hard, 24/7 now. We have a couple of big years ahead of us.”