Joey Essex made a winning start to his boxing career by beating Portuguese influencer Numeiro at Misfits 22 in Manchester last month, but the result could be investigated
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Joey Essex was awarded the win on points(Image: Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images)
Joey Essex’s dream boxing debut could be under threat after his opponent announced plans to appeal the result. Essex, 35, stepped into the ring for the first time last month for the latest Misfits event.
The TV personality earned a points victory over Numeiro, a Portuguese influencer, in Manchester on August 30. Essex even overcame a standing count in both the fourth and final rounds before being awarded the hard-fought win.
In a fresh twist nearly two weeks after the fight, Numeiro has revealed that he’s planning to appeal the result. The 27-year-old, real name Joao Barbosa, told IFL TV: “I really don’t want to cause any trouble, or to sound rude or do something bad.
“But every time I rewatch the fight, every time I speak to someone professional, coaches, referees, pro athletes, everyone I always get the same feedback. It was like, ‘That could have never happened (Essex winning)’.
“If they had given us a draw I don’t think we would even be arguing about it. It’s still not fair from my perspective, but It’s definitely not a loss.”
Barbosa went on to say: “I felt like it was really unfair. I put a lot of work [in], I dedicated so much time and effort, I’ve left so many things behind to focus on the fight.
“For it to all go away because of a bad ref, I think is really unfortunate. So I asked them, and I asked my team, if there was something we could do about it and they told me yes.
“After speaking with each other and with the whole team, we figured it was a good move to lodge an appeal and see what decision we get back.”
Barbosa added that he saw ‘fear’ and ‘weakness’ in Essex’s eyes, slating the former TOWIE star for his ‘lack of technical ability’. Ahead of the bout, he claimed that people had told him: “You will never get the decision against Joey Essex, especially in the UK.”
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A rematch has been mooted but Barbosa insists that he’s ‘more interested in getting a fair result’ for their first fight. Should a rematch happen, he’d want it to take place outside of the UK.
As for Essex, he’s yet to call out an opponent for his potential second boxing match. What fans may not know is that Essex has plenty of fighting heritage.
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His uncle – who coached him ahead of facing Barbosa – is Tony Sims, trainer to Conor Benn and formerly Anthony Joshua. His dad, Donny, was an amateur boxer while his grandfather boxed in the navy.
In addition, his great-grandfather was a boxing judge at the 1948 Olympic Games which were held in England. Demi Sims, Tony’s daughter, also made her debut at Misfits 22, beating Nadeshi Hopkins on points.
