New British heavyweight boxing champion is an MDX graduate

Jeamie ‘TKV’ Tshikeva produced a fascinating documentary on voodoo wrestling during his time at Middlesex University

A Middlesex University Film and TV graduate has become a star on the big screen in his own right after becoming the British heavyweight boxing champion.

Jeamie ‘TKV’ Tshikeva, who graduated from MDX in 2015, won the prestigious title after defeating Fraser Clarke - and follows in the footsteps of another Middlesex alumnus Joe Joyce. The bout was the first televised boxing contest on the BBC in more than twenty years. 

At university Jeamie, who grew up in Tottenham, North London, produced an engaging documentary on voodoo wrestling, which is popular in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and combines traditional wrestling with mystic rituals. 

Under the name Big Papa T, his father Makasi was a famous Congolese wrestler active on London’s UWA circuit in the late 1990s. For more than thirty years, Makasi has run Haringey Wrestling Club which has trained several Olympians. 

“I grew up watching voodoo wrestling. I remember my dad being put in a trance and they were making my dad dance, and the crowd was going crazy. And my mum being a Christian and spiritual woman grabbed her shoe and threw it into the ring, and it hit my dad on the head and he came out of the trance and won the fight.

“So, when my lecturers at Middlesex said to make a project about something personal and interesting, I believed I had the most interesting story of everyone.”

Jeamie ‘TKV’ Tshikeva

He has fond memories of his time on Hendon campus, saying: “I loved it and met some lifelong friends. It was a great experience going there.”

David Heinemann, a Senior Lecturer in Film Production who taught Jeamie, said: “I recall that he was quite a quiet student — quietly determined, as it turned out. 

“He not only produced and directed a fascinating major project film with ‘the Story behind Voodoo Wrestling’ but graduated with an upper second-class honours degree.”

Along with his brothers Israel and Chris, Jeamie was a talented freestyle wrestler.  

A chance boxing session at a community sports event in 2012 run by former Tottenham Hotspur player Ledley King put him on the path to a career in boxing.

He said: “The coach said ‘you got some ability; you should consider taking this serious because you could make millions in this’. That was literally the first thing he said to me afterwards. I thought ‘millions’ - this could be the sport for me! This was the summer before I went to university just as I finished my last year of college. From then on, I have been addicted to the sport of boxing.”

After graduating, Jeamie worked as a mentor for young people at an alternative provision school before becoming a professional boxer in 2021.

While the underdog against Fraser Clarke, who is a former Olympian, Jeamie TKV dominated the fight and won a split decision having nearly knocked out his opponent in the eleventh round. The victory was made more special as he had by his own admission the ‘worst camp ever,’ enduring  four weeks of illness, along with rib and back injuries which limited his sparring.

He said: “I came in my heaviest and everything was not great for me but I was able to do 12 hard rounds. The fact is that he could not put a dent in me despite me not being 100%.

“I am over the moon and a happy man because it was a big win. But I know I have a target on my back now and there’s still a lot of work to do.”

Now Jeamie wants a rematch with British heavyweight rival David Adeleye, who defeated him in controversial circumstances when he struck Jeamie with a decisive blow after the referee ordered the fighters to break from a clinch.

He claims: “Adeleye wants a lot of money, but we’re both heading up to the world level and that fight might happen soon.

“I really want that rematch to set the record straight. The whole boxing world said it was the wrong decision and that’s why he didn’t get many props for winning the British title.

“The aim is to win a world title, because as an amateur I competed at world level and was ranked eighth or ninth among thousands of boxers.  As an amateur I boxed at the highest level and want to do that as a professional as well.”

Another possible fight could be with the popular British heavyweight David Allen this year with Jeamie saying “that’s the one we are looking for”.

He is trained by Barry Smith and gets help from the top boxing coach Ben Davies, who also works with Fabio Wardley and the highly rated heavyweight prospect Moses Itauma. 

Jeamie is not ruling out a return to producing documentaries after he hangs up his gloves, or possibly sooner because he has a new project planned on Congolese religious leader Simon Kimbangu.

“I talk about it all the time,” said Jeamie. “At school we had a media course which I really enjoyed and then improved on at college.  It is something I still love and want to get back into making documentaries and perhaps I can do it during my career.”