The Only Way is Essex star Joey Essex is set to make his boxing debut for Misfits on a card with former UFC fighters Darren Till and Luke Rockhold headlining in Manchester
I have only met Joey Essex in passing, I can’t comment about his boxing ability, but I do know his uncle, and he would not let him anywhere near a professional ring if he were hopeless.
Joey is part of the celebrity boxing cult pioneered by Jake Paul. It’s not for me but it does bring eyeballs to the sport and as long as the fighters have basic competence there is no harm done.
Joey, trained by his uncle Tony Sims, is making his debut on the ‘Misfits’ show in Manchester, a line-up of influencers, wannabees and crossover MMA fighters seeking a wider audience through celebrity combat. I have been here before with Freddie Flintoff, the ex-England cricketer who wanted to give the sport a go a decade ago. He won his first bout but after that decided it wasn’t for him.
Joey might feel the same. It’s a bold move by anyone to have a go without an amateur background.
Freddie was nervous and apprehensive, but when he got going he was decent. He had a good jab and a tidy right hand, but found it hard to put punches together.
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It’s easy to throw a one-two but to throw combinations is difficult. The first thing is overcoming the fear of getting hit. And as a heavyweight, you get hit hard
Joey is fighting at middleweight, so that won’t be easy either. However, his opponent, a Portuguese influencer who calls himself Numeiro, has had only one previous bout, losing in six rounds.
Freddie had a good jab, which helped immensely. Everything works off the jab. Left jab, left jab, right hand, left hook. That is the basic move, easy in theory but not when someone is firing back.
When Freddie threw a right and came back with a left hook it was powerful, but he was an athlete, a professional sportsmen. He had athletic rhythm.
Being able to bowl fast he was co-ordinated, and that helped in turning his hand over when punching. And he understood the nature of competition, being out in the middle, producing in front of big crowds,
But he was still nervous. In sparring the lads took it easy on him. And in the fight he got dropped in the first round. But he got off his arse to do really well after that, better than he did in sparring in fact.
This is not an easy thing to do. It takes courage to step through the ropes under lights in front of a live audience with thousands tuning in remotely.
So I take my hat off to Joey. Where it takes him, who knows?
Follow Barry on X at @ClonesCyclone @mcguigan’s_Gym.