Viral ring girl Sydney Thomas recalls "shocked" reaction to Mike Tyson slapping Jake Paul, addresses triggering "staged" rumors
Sydney Thomas, a ring girl who was part of the traditional pageantry surrounding the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight, has just taken part in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital. During her sitdown, she touched on numerous topics relating to the bout, including the slapping incident at the pre-fight face-off.
After both Paul and Tyson weighed in, they engaged in a face-off. However, as Paul approached Tyson, he stepped on his toe, prompting an enraged Tyson to slap him in retaliation. Thomas was on stage for the incident, and described her stunned reaction over it.
"I was so shocked that it happened. I was not expecting that at all. But our job as event models is to stand there and smile. We're not really supposed to react. You're not supposed to change what you're doing. You're supposed to be in the background of all pictures and not have these big reactions."
Fortunately, nothing more came of the slap, and no serious brawl took place that could have jeopardized the matchup. However, the ring girls' visible lack of reaction led to accusations of the entire slap being staged, which only helped spark subsequent rumors that the fight itself was fixed.
"A lot of people, too, had drawn a line [and] said, 'This has to be staged. There's no way that's real. The models in the back didn't even react.' They were saying it was on for the reason why it was looking so fake, because we didn't react. That's our entire job. We're paid to stand there and smile. We're professional at it. We're not going to have these reactions. It was shocking, but that's our job."
Sydney Thomas isn't the only notable figure to rubbish talk of a staged fight
Besides Sydney Thomas, UFC welterweight standout Michael Chiesa shared his thoughts on the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight during an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda.
"I hate how people are saying the fight was fixed. For anybody watching this that's saying that fight was a fix, you realize if you get caught fixing a fight, you lose your license to promote forever. There's way too much risk and people don't realize that."
Check out Michael Chiesa dismissing talk of Jake Paul rigging his fight with Mike Tyson (10:13):
Ultimately Paul won via unanimous decision, and Tyson has been advised to stick to exhibition bouts.