Joey Essex warms up for Dapper Laughs fight

Three years ago, Joey Essex tried to manifest his dream of continuing his family boxing heritage by writing his own homemade contract.

The 36-year-old had already found fame through ITV's The Only Way is Essex and had travelled the world for Channel 4's Educating Joey Essex.

But climbing into the ring was the new ambition, which he fulfilled in August 2025 when he fought Portuguese influencer Joao Barbosa.

Essex returns to screens when he faces comedian Daniel O'Reilly, aka Dapper Laughs, on Saturday evening for his second fight.

Essex, from Chigwell, dreamt of joining the Misfits sports promotion company when he wrote himself the contract one morning in 2023.

"Did I write that I was going to be headlining a show? No, I didn't write that. So I've actually gone past my dreams," he told the BBC.

"My family are quite huge in boxing, it kind of stems in my blood. So kind of makes sense for me, with my name, to be involved."

Donny, his father, fought more than a dozen times under the Amateur Boxing Alliance without going professional.

Meanwhile, his uncle and trainer Tony Sims has guided big names including Anthony Joshua and Ricky Burns.

Sims initially told Essex he "should never be a boxer" because he was "too pretty", but his nephew has become his latest project at his gym in Stapleford Abbotts.

Essex insisted he was not trying to turn professional, but added: "I feel like if I didn't ever do this, I would have always thought 'what if?'"

Essex beat Barbosa, also known as Numeiro, by a points decision, but described the contest as "a slugfest".

He hopes Saturday evening in Bermondsey, south London, will be a better spectacle.

"Let's hope there's actually some boxing involved," he said.

He wants to fight the bigger names at Misfits, such as online influencers KSI, Logan Paul and boxer Tommy Fury.

"People can believe in you, but you need to believe in yourself," he finished.

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