Ouch.
It hurts to make a boxing movie look good. Michael B. Jordan can attest to that.
According to Rocky Balboa himself on Twitter, Sly Stallone, Jordan legit got knocked out during the filming of the film. Here's a short clip:
Jordan spoke to Bill Simmons about some of the training that went into the film.
"I wanted to put the work in. I wanted to put the time in. I didn't want any shortcuts whatsoever. You're body would eventually tell on itself," Jordan said. "I wanted it to be as authentic as we could to look like a boxer. We changed my diet completely. Grilled chicken, brown rice, a gallon and a half of water everyday. Some variation of that."
He did say, however, he had a cheat day on Sundays that included Philly cheeseteaks. Two to three times a day on Sunday.
NFL
As for filming the fight scenes, Jordan told Simmons he wanted it to be as real as possible.
"I did all my stunts. There is no stunt double. I really wanted to become a fighter. I didn't want anybody to hold anything back or give me any special treatment," Jordan said. "A lot of the real punches I had to take, you can thank Sly for that."
He also talks about a specific video that he shows to Simmons which seems to be the below footage.
"I had to really get hit. Legally, Ryan (the director) couldn't legally say, 'take the punch.' I had to step up and take the hit but I definitely got peer pressured."
“I definitely know what they mean when they say I see stars now. I know that expression.”
You can listen to the whole BS pod with Jordan below: