Irish boxer faces opponent set to swap punch bag for handbag

WHEN Irish boxer Michael Gomez enters the ring later this month he will not be fighting for a belt – but his opponent is probably more interested in knockout hats and shoes anyway.

Robert Newbiggin now strips as 100% masculine, with bulging muscles and intimidating tattoos, but after a date with a sex change surgeon on August 14 he will be swapping the punch bag for a handbag.

The 44-year-old Manchester-born boxer, who will change his name to Mercedes after the operation, says he has known since he was as young as three years of age that he was supposed to be a woman.

He claims that while he has the anatomy of a man, high levels of the female hormone oestrogen mean he should in fact be a woman.

His adopted father actually got him into boxing in his childhood years in the hope it would make him more masculine.

Now, when not in the ring, the married father of three frequently wears make-up and mini-skirts.

After becoming Mercedes, he says, he hopes to have a future in modelling, painting and interior design.

The former sparring partner of famous Manchester boxer Ricky Hatton also plans to apply for a boxing licence as a female.

However, Newbiggin’s female sensitivities won’t cut any ice with the Irish scrapper.

Gomez says that despite his opponent’s distinctly lady-like urges, and while he says he would normally be completely against hitting a woman, he will “make an exception in this case”.

“If he’s confused about his sexuality now, he won’t have a clue when I’ve finished with him,” he has said in the run-up to the fight in Manchester.