Michael B. Jordan Took Shot To The Face Like A Champ

“Creed” has taken over the reigns of the “Rocky” franchise. Those are some pretty big shoes to fill. Actor Michael B. Jordan was dedicated to the physical requirements for the role.

In fact Jordan was so dedicated to understanding the physical and psychological aspects of being a boxer, he took a real life punch to the face.

 

When Jordan was interviewed on Bill Simmons podcast he explained how it all went down.

“The first couple times we tried to do (the punches in the scene), we tried to it with the slips. You know, and it’s slow motion, so you can see the misses, the space between the punches. So, all of a sudden, you just hear this snickering from the corner, and everybody’s like ‘What?’

“And Sly’s like, ‘Man you gotta take it.’ I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ He’s like, ‘No, you gotta take a real punch.’ Like, pretty much, I had to really get hit.”

Sylvester Stallone said Jordan was “knocked cold” from the punch, but added, “I didn’t mean for that to happen” in an interview with Rotten Tomatoes.

Stallone had his own moment with a real punch that landed him in the hospital while filming Rocky IV. He asked co-star Dolph Lundgren—a.k.a. Ivan Drago—to try and “really” knock him out. “Bad idea,” Stallone later recalled.

“Later that night my blood pressure goes up to 260, I go to the hospital, they put me in an emergency jet, and fly me back to America. Next thing I know I’m in intensive care for five days with nuns walking around. He hit my heart so hard that it banged against my ribs and started to swell, and that usually happens in car accidents. So I was hit by a truck!”