Claims Mickey Rourke's Boxing Opponent Is Homeless And Was Paid To Throw Fight

Mickey Rourke returned to the boxing ring last weekend, beating an opponent 33 years his junior – but there are now claims that Elliot Seymour has been sleeping rough and was paid to throw the fight.

Seymour, 29, took on Rourke, 62, in a bout which took place in Moscow on Friday, with Seymour going down in the second round against the actor.

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But according to the Daily Mail, Seymour is a ‘homeless drifter’ who trained at Rourke’s Hollywood gym, but has a poor record in the ring, losing nine of his 10 professional bouts.

The paper spoke to a source close to the boxer’s family – who declined to be named – who said: “It was clearly a fixed fight. The whole bouncing off the ropes, hands down, punches were not landing and they were intentionally hitting each other’s gloves.

“There are people at Wild Card gym who know that Elliot’s in a really terrible situation and pretty much living on the streets, these are Mickey Rourke’s people who Elliot’s been around and known for some time.

“I’d be surprised if they didn’t know something about his situation but they have decided to put him in the ring against Mickey Rourke.”

A source at the gym told the newspaper: “Elliot trains here sometimes. He’s a professional opponent. Meaning you pay him to lose.

“The fight was a joke… Mickey needs to stop pretending he ever was very good and just keep acting. It’s kind of an embarrassment really. Mickey throws punches so slow and infant could avoid them.”

Seymour’s Facebook page, where he is called Elliot BuffaloSoldier, ofter refers to his financial straits and housing problems.

A family source told the paper: “He’s been out on the streets since May 2013.

“He was living up in San Francisco for several months, pretty much on the streets, very estranged from his family and he ended up moving back down here and he’s pretty much been living on the streets.

"He’s pretty much hanging out at Starbucks, very disheveled, people have taken him clothes because he just smelled horrible, he hadn’t bathed and hadn’t changed clothes for several days.

“He doesn’t have a place to live consistently if he’s doing anything he’s couch surfing. He spends nights in the local park.”

The manager of a local Starbucks, Alejandro Puelma, where Seymour can often be found, confirmed that he was homeless, adding that he is popular with staff.

“He’s in here all the time, he hangs out here and comes in right when we open at 5am. I knew he was homeless,” he said.

“I knew he was going out there to fight but he didn’t mention it was Mickey Rourke. He just said he was going out there to fight and see you when I get back.”

Rourke announced he was reigniting his boxing career, after hanging up his gloves after four years, with the Russian bout last week, and was pictured training.

He told Sovetsky Sport: “Boxing is a serious part of my life. It taught me respect and determination, patience and concentration. I always dreamed of fighting a match in Russia.”

So far, Rourke’s camp has not responded to the claims.

Image credits: AFP/Le Figaro/AP/20Minutes.fr/Facebook

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