Jake Paul handed himself a second victory over Tyron Woodley after going up against the ex-UFC champion yesterday (18 December) knocking him out with a huge right hand in the sixth round - in turn, taking his unbeaten streak to five.
But some conspiracy theorists have been claiming something’s not quite right about that KO, having drawn parallels between the fight and a famous on-screen knockout from cinema.
Michael B Jordan knocked out by former cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew while filming Creed, with Sylvester Stallone posting footage of the moment on social media and writing: “Michael B Jordan, ‘Young Creed’ and ‘getting KOd for real!' But he got up and did it again! That’s called guts!!”
Jordan later explained on the The Graham Norton Show that Stallone liked putting him through ‘punishment’, saying: “In the Rocky films it’s like a badge of honour to take a real punch.
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“And when you do slow-mo shots you can’t fake it because if you did a slow-mo shot and it was a miss, you would see the space and that it wouldn’t connect.
“So you have to take a real punch. Sly gets up and says, ‘Michael, listen, you gotta take a real punch.’”
However, he claims he wasn’t ‘technically knocked out’, continuing: “I got hit, went down and the camera panned in. The first time we did it, Tony’s glove was in the way so we didn’t see it – so we had to do it again.
“So we did it the second time, I got hit and I could feel the energy of the studio. I was like, ‘It must have really looked good because everybody is quiet.’
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“I was definitely seeing stars, I was not all there, smelling the canvas and everything. It smelled like Pine-Sol.
“But yeah, I took a real punch, it felt like I was in a car accident for like four days afterwards. Tony said he only went 40 per cent.”
It’s this footage that some fans think suggests the Paul vs Woodley rematch was ‘fixed’ or staged, with one tweeting after the fight: “@jakepaul that knockout looked so fake almost like the one @michaelb4jordan took while he was filming Creed and the post fight interview and pre fight video just make it seem so scripted @TWooodley look like he can’t believe he sold out for that check.”
Someone else said: “@TWooodley must’ve took the same Creed classes as @michaelb4jordan.”
A third posted a link to Jordan’s interview, saying this ‘explained’ the outcome of the most recent fight.
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Others also said they reckon Paul 'twisted' his hand to signal to Woodley, with one tweeting:
Another agreed: "Y’all watch Jake Paul twist his right hand to give the signal to Woodley to let his guard down. Issa setup."
Speaking after the fight, Paul said he had been 'setting the punch up' throughout.
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"This guy [Woodley] is a legend and respect to him for taking the fight with two weeks' notice," he said.
"It was a tough fight. I had blood in my eyes. I had the job done.
"I was setting the punch up the whole fight. He didn't see it coming. Like a lumberjack, timber. It's got to be the moment of my life."
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Sport, News, Jake Paul, TV and Film
