Joey Essex looked battered and bruised on Sunday as he departed his hotel in Manchester after narrowly winning his debut Misfits boxing fight.
The reality star, 33, stepped out with a swollen, black bruised eye and had several cuts on his face after surviving a chaotic four-round scrap to beat Portuguese prankster Numeiro on points.
Now, Joey has emerged from his hotel sporting his own apparel, a hoodie, matching tracksuit bottoms and a backwards baseball cap.
The TOWIE star kept comfortable in a pair of black trainers and carried a blue leather crossbody bag.
Also spotted leaving the same hotel as the influencer was his supportive TOWIE pals James Argent, Demi Sims, Diags and Dan Edgar.
Joey’s boxing match has gone viral for all the wrong reasons after the reality TV star survived a chaotic four-round scrap with Numeiro.
Joey Essex looked battered and bruised on Sunday as he departed his hotel in Manchester after narrowly winning his debut Misfits boxing fight
The reality star, 33, stepped out with a swollen, bruised eye and had several cuts on his face after surviving a chaotic four-round scrap to beat Portuguese prankster Numeiro on points
The influencer, coached by his uncle Tony Sims, looked set for an easy night after starting strongly in Manchester.
But by the fourth and final round, he was staggering around the ring, barely able to lift his hands as his exhausted opponent piled forward.
At one stage, Joey was even given a standing count by the referee before clinging on to hear the final bell.
Two judges awarded him the fight, while the third scored it a draw, handing the Only Way Is Essex star a narrow split decision victory.
When his name was announced, Joey collapsed to the canvas in tears as the crowd roared — but many watching at home were left less than impressed.
Footage of the pair wildly swinging at each other quickly spread across social media, with boxing fans describing it as both hilarious and painful to watch.
One viewer wrote: ‘That Joey Essex fight might be the best and worst thing I’ve ever seen.’
Another joked: ‘Are the refs on MisFits cards celebrities as well? They can’t be real boxing refs. This Joey Essex fight was hilarious in the best possible way.’
Joey’s boxing match has gone viral for all the wrong reasons after the reality TV star survived a chaotic four-round scrap with Numeiro
Now, Joey has emerged from his hotel sporting his own apparel, a hoodie, matching tracksuit bottoms and a backwards baseball cap
Also spotted leaving the same hotel as the influencer was his supportive TOWIE pals James Argent
Demi Sims cosied up to girlfriend Jazz Saunders as they braved the rain departing the hotel
Dan Edgar stepped out in a black tracksuit and white trainers in the city
Diags, whose real name is James Bennewith, looked in good spirits as he headed home
Others were far less charitable. ‘For the love of God, never let Joey Essex fight again. That was absolutely atrocious,’ fumed one fan.
Another admitted: ‘In terms of boxing skill that was by far the worst boxing match I’ve seen in 20 years of watching the sport. But I loved it and want to see a rematch.’
A different user added bluntly: ‘He was awful. Robbery. Credit to them both for stepping in the ring — but both were pretty terrible. Fun to watch though.’
The fight, staged on the MisFits 22 undercard, was anything but polished.
Joey opened with a stiff jab and overhand rights, even forcing a standing count in round three after landing cleanly.
But Numeiro, whose real name is Joao Barbosa, showed his durability and came back strong, leaving Joey clinging on in the final session.
Despite the criticism, Joey celebrated wildly at the result and was congratulated at ringside by professional boxer Conor Benn.
Joey was previously in line to feature on Misfits Boxing’s ‘super card’ in Qatar last November against KSI’s brother Deji.
But it fell through as the reality star went on to appear on season 11 of Love Island instead.
The fight took place at Manchester’s AO Arena as part of Misfits Boxing 22: Ring of Thrones
It comes after Joey put his £2.2million Essex mansion up for rent for a whopping £10,000 a month after deciding to leave the UK for a year to train as a boxer.
The reality star signed himself up to undergo intensive training at gyms in Los Angeles and Dubai.
He is getting in shape to tackle some of the biggest names in boxing, including KSI, Jake Paul and YouTuber Deji Olatunji.
Joey is supported with his boxing dreams by Misfits Boxing, whose co-founder, Mams Taylor, said he has got the commitment needed to succeed in the ring.
Mams said: ‘Joey’s got family background in boxing so I think he’s excited to get in the ring and we’re excited to have him.
‘Joey’s going to be very committed, we’ve spoken daily for the last few days and he’s really on it.’
MissFits was launched in 2022 by YouTuber KSI and boxing promoter Mams.
Mams previously told SunSport that Joey needs to take his training seriously but said he is ‘not someone who’s gonna do this half-a****’.
