Boxing Rumors 2014: Mickey Rourke’s comeback fight more of a PR stunt than a fix says promoter

By Jobs & Hire Staff Reporter | Dec 05, 2014 09:30 AM EST

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News regarding the controversies surrounding Mickey Rourke's comeback fight in boxing have been put to bed... for the most part, at least.

Exactly a week ago, the 62-year old actor and former professional boxer made a one-night comeback against 29-year old Elliot Seymour in a scheduled-five round fight in Moscow, Russia.

Much to the rest of the world's surprise, Rourke was able to pull off a second round technical knockout victory, making fans believe that aging "The Wrestler" star is still cut out for a physically demanding sport such as boxing.

However, the celebration was short-lived as just two days after the fight, a report from Daily Mail Online came about claiming that the fight was a fix, adding that Seymour was a homeless man in dire need of money, and that he had been paid to take a dive.

But what seemed to be a roller coaster of silliness did not end there. On Monday, Seymour himself spoke up and denied that the fight was a fix. According to the journeyman boxer, he was only able to train for a month, hence his abysmal performance against the former boxer who was 33 years his senior.

Now, new developments are still emerging. In a new report by MailOnline, promoter Andrey Ryabinsky also categorically denied that it was a fixed fight, but in turn, also admitted that it was merely a PR stunt where Rourke was given the option to choose his opponent.

Ryabinsky added that the entire fight was made mainly for boxing fans who would want to see a show, and for him, they did deliver. The 'World of Boxing' promotions head honcho also added that the bout was made to make Rourke look good.

"I expected to see Rourke and a show which people would like," Ryabinsky explained. "But the main story was about Rourke. It is good for us, the more noise around this event the better."

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