A video has been released which appears to show Wayne Rooney being knocked out cold by former Manchester United team-mate Phil Bardsley . The Old Trafford captain and the Stoke defender pulled on gloves during a night-in at Rooney 's Cheshire mansion last month - but Bardsley 's wife Tanya dismissed the incident as a joke . With only a small space in which to work in Rooney 's lounge , the pair trade light blows for just under a minute before Bardsley sends Rooney reeling . The England striker lies motionless under a chair for several seconds before the video , obtained by The Sun , cuts out . Wayne Rooney , a big boxing fan , posted this picture on his Instagram with professional boxer Paul Smith . Phil Bardsley 's wife Tanya moved to defuse the furore by claiming the video had been a joke . 'Wayne had everybody worried when he hit the floor like that , ' a source told the newspaper . 'He made such a thud when he went down and he was just on his back with his eyes closed , not moving . 'People were scared he had really banged his head and done some lasting damage . 'Everyone realised it was a stupid thing to do , but they just got carried away . ' Bardsley 's wife Tanya later hit back at the furore caused by the release of the video . She tweeted : 'Seen the sun , 2 mates havin a laugh video does n't show Wayne jumping straight up and laughing with Phil # cleveredit . ' The video is believed to have been filmed on February 22 , the day after United lost 2-1 at Swansea . Rooney is wearing a pair of white Adidas gloves while Bardsley pulls on a pink pair . They appear to be sparring gloves rather than the smaller , less padded sets worn in professional fights . Neither man has a headguard on and while Bardsley is wearing shoes , Rooney is in his socks . After touching gloves , they circle each other before Bardsley throws a left hand . Rooney paws back without connecting . Bardsley is the more aggressive throughout , and tries to go for Rooney 's body , pushing him back . The pair separate but again Bardsley comes on strongly , landing a right uppercut . Rooney tries to respond but misses wildly before his former team-mate bides his time and throws the shot that sends Rooney backwards , narrowly avoiding a chair as he hits the deck . The incident could leave Rooney with some uncomfortable questions to answer from United chiefs over his choice of extra-curricular activities . Given he skipper 's United , the forward is a regular for Louis van Gaal 's men . And the United manager is unlikely to be impressed with Rooney for partaking in such dangerous activities prior to matches and training . Rooney returned to action six days later , scoring a double against Sunderland . Phil Bardsley ( centre ) celebrates a Peter Crouch goal for Stoke during a win over Arsenal in December 2014 . Wayne Rooney scores a stunning header against Arsenal in the 2-1 FA Cup defeat on Monday . The Manchester United captain celebrates his goal at Old Trafford on Monday against Arsenal in the FA Cup . VIDEO Van Gaal refuses to discuss 'ridiculous ' Rooney story . Former Birmingham and Sheffield United midfielder Curtis Woodhouse - who swapped football for boxing and became the British super-lightweight champion - saw the funny side of it , posting on Twitter beside two pictures of himself boxing and playing football : 'Some can , some think they can ? ? Rooney ... not everybody can do it ! ! ! it 's not as easy as I made it look . ' When asked by one Twitter user whether he would consider fighting Rooney for charity , Woodhouse replied : 'When he wakes up maybe ' . Rooney comes from a big boxing background and is often photographed at ringside during high-profile bouts . Speaking seven years ago , Rooney said his boxing training as a youngster helped his football career . ' I think my boxing training was beneficial in my development as a footballer , especially breaking through to the Premier League at such a young age , ' he said . ' I needed that extra bit of strength that the boxing training had given me . It made it easier to play than it might have been and it 's helped me with the way my game is now . 'All through my life - from the ages of six , seven and eight - when big fights were on television , I used to stay up with my dad to watch them . ' I 've always loved watching boxing and I went boxing training for about three or four years when I was younger . It 's a sport I 've always been involved in . ' I was doing both boxing and football training at one stage when I was about 15 . But Everton who I was with at the time , said I had to concentrate on one of them and I opted for football . ' Rooney recently posted this picture on Instagram of him meeting Lennox Lewis ( left ) and Amir Khan ( centre )
Footage has emerged of Wayne Rooney boxing with Phil Bardsley . The sparring session took place in Rooney 's mansion . It happened the day after United lost to Swansea in February . In a statement released on Wednesday, Manchester City said it was 'aware that footage exists which appears to show an incident involving Wayne Rooney' and is investigating it.