Joey Essex has opened up about a nasty body sparring session with Conor Benn that left him scared for his health.The reality TV star, who ventures into the boxing world next month, jokingly admitted that he will never trade blows with his friend, Benn, again ahead of his in-ring debut.The former TOWIE personality makes his debut at Misfits 22 on August 30GettyEssex has been rubbing shoulders with British boxing star Benn for yearsGettyEssex steps foot inside the squared circle for the first time on August 30 in Manchester as he takes on Portuguese social media influencer Numeiro under the Misfits Boxing banner.The stacked card, billed as Misfits 22: Ring of Thrones, also features ex-UFC stars Darren Till, Luke Rockhold, and Tony Ferguson.Essex is being coached for the bout by his uncle, Tony Sims, who also happens to be the Essex-based trainer of Benn.The 34-year-old revealed in a conversation with talkSPORT that he has been rubbing shoulders with Benn and other professional boxers for years now.But sparring with them was one step too far.“I’ve body sparred with Conor and I’ll never do it again,” Essex confessed.“I phoned Tony and I was like, ‘Tony! Mate!’ Because I had a job to do that day.“This is like two years ago, and Tony responded, ‘Yeah, like your kidneys, you might like p**s blood or something,’ and I was like, ‘What?!’“But I did it. I did it. He was bodyshotting me, because it was just body sparring.“I would never advise anyone to get in the ring with a professional boxer and take body shots. It’s not ideal… it was painful.”Essex said Benn fully believes in him, but that doesn’t mean he’ll endure another sparring session with himGettyBenn is fresh from his involvement in one of the biggest spectacles in British boxing history.The 28-year-old suffered a unanimous decision defeat to Chris Eubank Jr after a 12-round war at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in April.The bout marked the sequel of an iconic rivalry shared by both men’s dads 35 years ago.Are Chris Eubank and Conor Benn having a rematch?Both teams of Eubank Jr and Benn are currently in negotiations to run it back at the end of 2025 after an initially planned September rematch collapsed.Nothing has been officially confirmed yet, but Essex did tell talkSPORT that his friend wants the rematch.He further explained that he has, unsurprisingly, sought advice from names like Benn and undefeated Essex pro boxer George Liddard.Benn fought Eubank in front of over 67,000 fans in AprilGettyHowever, the Misfits debutante has full confidence he would do just fine on his own.“[Benn and Liddard] can give you advice, but I’ve already got what it takes, and they fully believe in me,” he added.“I’ve trained with them for years, going on runs, me and Conor used to always train together. “We’d do 5K runs all the time, and I know that doesn’t mean anything in the boxing world, but we’ve always trained together here and there in the gym and stuff like that.“[I know] I’ve got what it takes. Basically, to have success in boxing, I feel like you need a lot of heart. You need to be strong, you need to be disciplined, you need to get up in the morning, and not cut corners.“I’ve got all that. So I believe that I’ll be there, and I think I’m gonna go far.” Essex admitted he signed for Misfits purely for the financial rewards, but still wants to try and take his journey in the KSI-owned promotion as far as possible.He doesn’t know much about his Portuguese opponent on the night, but wants to use the fight to set up more lucrative opportunities against bigger names like Jake Paul and put respect on his name.