By Ryan Songalia
Contrary to reports, heavyweight journeyman Ralph "Wild Wild" West is not dead, according to friends of the Jamboree, KY fighter.
Another site had reported that West was killed breaking up a fight at a bar where he was working as a security guard.
"I don't know how that happened," says Skip Stewart, manager of the 17-14-1 (14 KO) fighter. "The only thing I know is that he's alive and well."
"He doesn't even work at a bar," says close friend Greg Maynard. "He works for a local company part-time building houses."
Maynard claims to have been with West on the night that he was reported to have been shot. They were attending an MMA event in Kentucky and claims to have been in direct contact with West ever since.
Maynard says that the family of West were grief stricken and "distraught" by the news that West had died only to discover the reports were false. They were unable to contact West because his prepaid phone did not have minutes on it.
"I saw him over the weekend and he was fine. It kinda tricked me out at first. Just last night he was at the fights with us. At first I thought he had gone down the road and gotten into something we didn't know about."
"I wasn't very happy about it," says Stewart. "I went three days thinking he was dead. How would you feel if you thought someone close to you was dead?"
The other site has since printed a retraction of the story but has not offered a public apology.
Comments To ryansongalia201@aol.com
