09 February 2023 , 14:03
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Former world heavyweight title challenger Derek Chisora asked Jake Paul to his face if he truly knocked down Anderson Silva with a punch in the eighth round of their fight.
Chisora was on stage with Paul at the promotional press conference for the American's bout with Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia last night after the Love Island star opted not to attend the promotional event. And in a funny moment, the heavyweight asked directly if he had landed his combination that put down Silva.
Paul and Silva have both previously denied that it was a phantom punch, with conspiracy theories swirling based on one angle which was shared across social media. Other angles clearly show that Silva was hit cleanly and the knockdown was legitimate, but Fury and other rivals of the YouTube star have used it as ammunition against his boxing credentials.
And at the press conference yesterday, Chisora told Paul: "Your last shot that you knocked him down on, people say you didn't catch him right on that and he stayed down?" The statement that Silva stayed down is incorrect, he got up and beat the 10-count to make the final bell of the fight.
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"Can you try and correct that for me?" Chisora asked, with Paul responding that the accusation was false. "It's hilarious," he said. "There's multiple camera angles that show the punch landing on his chin, it's disrespectful to Anderson Silva, one of the greatest combat strikers of all time, one of the greatest combat athletes of all time to say that he took a dive. He was coming to fight and coming to try and take my head off and win. I was the better man that night."
Do you believe Jake Paul knocked down Anderson Silva legitimately? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Previously, Silva has denied the allegation, telling TMZ : "The people don't understand the fight game and they think 'oh Anderson is doing something behind the scenes with Jake' but it's not. Jake won the fight, I don't feel disrespected [by the fix claims] because I continued my legacy. It doesn't matter what people are talking about."
Paul has also taken aim in the past at UFC star Paddy Pimblett when he claimed that the punch hadn't landed, sharing footage clearly showing the punch hitting Silva. He also said: "I was really wanting to like you, I really was; you've got a good thing going for you but then you come out and say my fight with Anderson Silva was rigged.
"I'm sick and tired of this narrative. It's stupid and pathetic; you're disrespecting the GOAT [Greatest Of All Time] of your own sport. You're saying that Anderson Silva is a criminal, that he is a fraud. You're saying Viacom, one of the biggest media companies in the world, is doing criminal stuff."