Ryabinsky Distances WOB From Rourke-Seymour Scandal
By Alexey Sukachev
The already infamous collision between 62-year-old Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke (6-0-2, 4 KOs), who boxed for a few years in the 90s, and his incapable opponent Elliot Seymour (1-9, 1 KO – both records don’t include the unofficial fight on Nov. 28) - gets more and more shady by the day.
When it seemed that it couldn’t be any worse than a 62-year-old fighting a 29-year-old, British paper Daily Mail spoke to sources who revealed that Seymour was in fact homeless, living on the streets for the last 18 months and desperate for money. Seymour has since gone on the record with American tabloid TMZ, confirming that he lives on the streets but denied taking a dive in the contest.
World of Boxing, headed by promoter Andrey Ryabinsky, staged last Friday's event in Moscow, Russia. His company issued a statement which denied any type of business involvement with Rourke. They said the opponent was selected by Rourke's people when they were approached to allow the actor to fight on their undercard.
“World of Boxing promotional company is by no means a representative, manager or promoter of Hollywood star Mickey Rourke. Rourke asked us to allow him to fight on our show on November 28 at Russia Concert Hall against an already chosen and signed opponent. As a promotional company, we verified that Rourke’s opponent was a boxer but we have never gotten into details of his financial status."
