Mickey Rourke Returns To Boxing; Defeats 29-Year-Old

This one is a little bizarre. Mickey Rourke has returned to boxing at the age of 62, and defeated a 29-year-old Elliot Seymour. For once, Rourke is making headlines for something other than his plastic surgery, and I for one, salute him.

The fight took place in Moscow, and was Mr. Rourke’s first fight in 20 years. Here are more details from ABC News:

Rourke prepared in a dressing room in front of a shrine featuring candles, images of saints, and photographs of his dogs. Rourke said he had been in mourning for his recently-deceased Chihuahua.

He took to the ring in a Stetson hat, a red-and-gold robe and shiny gold gloves, repeatedly crossing himself.

Rourke, who had said he lost 35 lbs (16 kilograms) to prepare to the fight, was much thinner than in his best-known cinematic fighting persona, when he bulked up to play the title character in 2008’s “The Wrestler.” His shorts bore his ring nickname from the 1990s, Marielito, with a Spanish-language message reading “always handsome.”

The fight was held at a pedestrian pace, with both Rourke and Seymour frequently backing away from one another and letting down their guard.

Several of Rourke’s punches appeared illegal. His final punch struck the stumbling Seymour on the buttocks and the 29-year-old went down to all fours until the referee stopped the contest. The Russian crowd chanted “Misha,” a short form of the Russian name Mikhail, in Rourke’s honor.

Dudes, I can’t imagine anything scarier than a 62-year-old Mickey Rourke coming at me in a boxing ring. Which is why I am not a boxer.

A lot of people are saying this was rigged, and I can understand why they’re saying that. Rourke’s punches were described as “flimsy”, and yet, Seymour went down, hard. The whole thing was a little odd. Here it is, if you wanna watch it: