ANDERSON SILVA has shut down suggestions he was knocked-out twice in sparring ahead of his fight with Jake Paul.
The pair are set to go head-to-head in Phoenix, Arizona this weekend as the 47-year-old looks to continue his impressive start to life in boxing after a long time in UFC.
With Paul looking to claim one of the biggest scalps of his career, Silva has a challenge on his hands to make it five wins in six fights.
But fans were left worried by his preparation after the UFC legend said he was knocked out twice in sparring ahead of the bout.
But he has since clarified his comments.
Silva was quotes as saying: “I’m training hard for win — I’m training with the good boxers, high-level, and five guys come to help me.
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“And the last sparring with [my sparring partner], he is knocked me out two times, and when I finish my training, I talked to my coach and even said, ‘coach, let me tell you something, why the guys knock me out two times?’
“And the coach said, ‘You need to prepare for war, and you prepare for war.’”
But Silva’s longtime coach Luiz Carlos Dorea told MMA Fighting that Silva’s story was incorrect, and he was not knocked out.
He said: “What I can say is that didn’t happen,” he said. “Thank God we follow all the steps in training and Anderson did excellent sparring [sessions]. He’s 100 percent for the fight.”
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Silva has also clarified his comment.
He said: “After seeing the reports and concern for me, I’d like to clarify two important things. One, I was NEVER knocked out in sparring. I misspoke in that interview as I sometimes do when interviewing in English and 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 and, for some reason, just released this week. So, it wasn’t recent.
“More importantly, my training camp has been great. I am fit and ready to fight and the only knockout people should be worried about is the one I’m about to deliver to Jake Paul on Saturday night.”
Despite the denial, The Arizona Department of Gaming, which oversees the state’s boxing commission, said they would be “looking into the matter.”
Silva is looking to hand The Problem Child his first loss.
Paul was supposed to be fighting Tommy Fury in August but plans fell through after an issue with the Brit’s US visa.
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A bout with Hasim Rahman Jr was also set up, but that also fell through due to a problem making weight on the heavyweight fighter’s side.
The Youtuber-turned-boxer has not fought since December when he knocked out ex-UFC champion Tyron Woodley.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
