Jake Paul picked another dud to share a ring with after it emerged that his 47-year-old opponent got planted more than once in sparring.
The YouTuber is going up against UFC legend Anderson Silva this weekend in what now seems to be strategic boxing move number six.
Paul aims to prolong his faux professional career with Showtime as the ex-Disney child star continues to hoodwink fans into believing he’s a proper boxer.
Was Anderson Silva knocked out in sparring?
Silva had to release a statement this week to clarify comments made to MMA Weekly. The Arizona Commission opened up an investigation after Silva claimed he’d been knocked out twice in sparring.
Blaming broken English, the Brazilian outlined a slip of the tongue.
“After seeing the reports and concern for me, I’d like to clarify two important things,” Silva stated.
“One, I was never knocked out in sparring. I misspoke in that interview, as I sometimes do when interviewing in English. I exaggerated the normal back-and-forth action that occurs in sparring.
“Second, this sparring session I referenced was in early September. The interview with MMA Weekly was done on September 13.
“For some reason, it was just released this week. So, it wasn’t recent.
“More importantly, my training camp has been great. I am fit and ready to fight. The only knockout people should be worried about is the one I’m about to deliver to Jake Paul on Saturday night.”
Silva KO’d?
He had said: “I’m training hard for [the] win. I’m training with good boxers, high-level, and five guys come to help me.
“In the last sparring with, he [spar partner] knocked me out two times. When I finished training, I talked to my coach and even said, ‘Coach, let me tell you something, ‘Why [did] the guy knock me out two times?’ And the coach said, ‘You need to prepare for war, and you prepare for war.'”
Said coach Luiz Carlos Dorea then had to deny the happening to MMA Fighting.
“What I can say is that didn’t happen. Thank God we followed all the steps in training. Anderson did excellent sparring. He’s 100 percent for the fight.”
In a nutshell, Silva changed his story to being “knocked down” rather than out. Whether KO’d or put on the canvas, it’s not a good look for the fight.
Paul has chosen another cherry for his collection. Even though Silva got put on a pedestal for his win over a way-past-his-best Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
That victory, which took place sixteen months ago, was followed up by a defeat of Tito Ortiz in the first round. The latter should never have been sanctioned as a boxing match, though.
Jake Paul vs another dud
So, once again, Jake Paul is on course to go 6-0 with another knockout, without fighting any boxer of note his entire career.
No wonder there are plans to end the contest within the first half of the bout.
“I have more than what it takes. My heart and the power of my mind are my greatest attributes.
“People are going to realize that on Saturday night. I’m here to show out for the fans.
“I have had plenty of big fights, but I think you can call this a mega fight. It’s going to be all action.
“I want to knock him out within the first five rounds. That’s the goal,” said Paul.
He added that he now feels accomplished as a boxer despite never trading blows with anyone that could cause him any physical KO damage.
“This is how you know you made It. That’s the power of a dream. I’m about to fight my idol. It doesn’t get better than that.”
The views expressed in this article are the opinions of Phil Jay.
WBN Editor Phil Jay has over ten years of boxing news experience. Follow WBN on Facebook @officialworldboxingnews, Instagram, and Twitter @worldboxingnews.
