Sport review 04.12.14
04.12.2014
Deemed a threat to society, Emelianenko is currently facing charges for the sexual assault of a 27-year-old Polina Stepanova. Emelianenko has been under police custody for most of the year but that has not stopped him from attempting to live a healthy lifestyle. Charges pending, Emelianenko sounds like a horrible human being but while behind bars he has started a one man crusade against his cell mates smoking cigarettes.
„The Grim Reaper” does not tolerate lung cancer. Russian news outlet Life News has the story of Emelianenko awaiting trial and training his fellow inmates in MMA. On one hand the 33 year old Emelianenko is rising against the dangers of smoking. On the other hand Emelianenko is training his cell mates to be better fighters through MMA.
Stay in shape, eat healthy, try to avoid long awkward moments inside a clear plastic holding cell are the mantras Emelianenko lives by in 2014. The Alexander Emelianenko story would make for the most confusing Russian TV Public Service Announcement ever.
The 62-year-old actor, most famous for his Academy Award-nominated role in „The Wrestler,” came out „victorious” in the exhibition match with Eliott Seymour Friday in Moscow, winning by second-round stoppage. It was a joke of a fight and an affront to the sport. The men moved in slow motion and showed no skill whatsoever.
Rourke has an excuse, given his age and that it was 20 years since he last had a bout. He fought to a 1994 draw against Sean Gibbons, now a popular manager and matchmaker in boxing. The 29-year-old Seymour showed little talent and less effort and was counted out after twice being knocked down by body shots.
Promoter Arthur Pellulo should be ashamed for being a part of that farce.
But the London Daily Mail, in an exclusive report, says the fight was fixed. The Mail\’s accuracy on its exclusives is somewhere less than the weekend weather guy\’s in Dubuque, but that hasn\’t stopped it in the past from salacious headlines. The Mail „reported” last year that former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis would end a 10-year retirement for $100 million to fight Vitali Klitschko. Of course, both sides denied it and it never occurred.
That, though, was the Mail\’s bright and shining moment compared to its „exclusive” on the Rourke fight.
This time, the Mail quotes a „source close to the family” as well as „a gym source,” that Seymour was asked by unidentified associates of Rourke to intentionally lose. It referred to Seymour as a „homeless drifter” and quoted a family member that it never identified discussing at length a theory that Seymour threw the bout.
Seymour is 1-9 as a professional boxer and has lost eight fights in a row. He most recently fought professional on Oct. 16 in Costa Mesa, Calif., when he lost a decision to Taif Harris.
Rourke is close friends with legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach and trains at Roach\’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif. The so-called family member told the Mail that Seymour trained at Wild Card, as well.
There are few facts presented in the story. It\’s more a string of anonymous quotes from the unidentified relative and an alleged source at the gym where Rourke trained.
The story doesn\’t indicate whether any attempt was made to speak with Seymour, Rourke, Pellulo or Roach, despite the serious allegations. It did quote a „gym source,” as well as the manager of a Starbucks where Seymour supposedly hang out before the fight. It said it had reached out to Rourke\’s manager, but did not indicate if it had received a response.
The Starbucks\’ manager\’s contribution was to confirm that Seymour often showed up at his establishment at 5 a.m., which made him suspect Seymour is homeless.
It also quoted Seymour\’s mother, but did not refer to her by her full name. It only referred to her as „Mrs. Seymour.” She expressed concern about her son and said they were estranged because of differences over his boxing career, but she presented no facts to support the story\’s headline that the fix was in.
The bout was beyond awful and neither man had much ability or was in condition for a real fight. Simply by being a part of it, Pellulo\’s reputation is deservedly going to take a massive hit. It was bad enough that Pellulo allowed well-past-his-prime Jose Luis Castillo fight in the main event against Ruslan Provodnikov, but it showed terrible judgment to be a party to something like the Rourke-Seymour debacle.
What\’s clear is that it wasn\’t much of a fight and neither guy tried hard. Why an exhibition bout featuring a 62-year-old actor would be fixed is beyond me, but perhaps it was. It seems unlikely, but not impossible given the horrible nature of the fight.
The Mail, though, simply offered nothing in the way of proof for its allegations.
The writing may have been on the wall after Cung Le\’s brutal loss to Michael Bisping at UFC Fight Night 48 a few months ago (see his destroyed face here), but after the promotion sullied his good name with a bumbled drug test (full details here), the former Strikeforce Middleweight champion has requested to be released from his contract.
Le was originally slapped with a nine-month suspension following his fourth round technical knockout loss to Bisping because traces of human growth hormone (HGH) were allegedly detected in his bloodstream after testing was performed in Macau, China. Le subsequently challenged the voracity of the testing procedures that were used and the handling of his sample and UFC ultimately rescinded his suspension.
However, it appears that the damage was already done.
Indeed, Le remains bitter about the public shaming and is no longer interested in working under the Zuffa banner, according to an interview with Josh Gross. He outlined his feelings about UFC and the reason he asked to part ways with the promotion.
„I\’d just prefer not to be part of the UFC anymore. I\’d prefer not to put the effort into something I don\’t believe in anymore. If I would fight for anyone, it would be Scott Coker. I would not fight for the UFC after what happened.”
Le\’s manager, Gary Ibarra, also appeared on the show to outline why he had submitted Le\’s request for a release:
„His career will forever have something of an asterisk next to it, due to something that is no fault of his own. Does anybody deserve that? No, absolutely not. I would hope the UFC would understand that and recuse themselves from further drug testing when there are no athletic commissions.”
As of this writing, UFC has not granted Le\’s release request. But, considering that Le is interested in re-uniting with Coker, who runs the rival Bellator MMA promotion – and a handful of notable UFC veterans have already been eager to switch sweaters – it seems like an unlikely scenario.
Then again, Le is 42 and on the downswing of his career. And, just maybe, UFC will grant his request to make up for its high-profile blunder. Either way, we\’ll keep you updated on all the latest developments.