Mickey Rourke's boxing match was fixed, report says

The boxer beaten by tough-guy actor Mickey Rourke in a publicized bout last week in Russia was actually a troubled homeless man who was paid to take a dive, sources tell The Post.

“Obviously, it was beneficial for Mickey Rourke. It probably made him feel good, boosted his ego, to be able to say he beat somebody half his age,’’ said a family friend of Elliot Seymour, the down-and-out boxer who hangs out at the same LA gym as Rourke and allegedly took the fall against him.

“Yeah, Rourke did [beat him], but you’re not telling them the real story. The real story is [Seymour] is homeless and desperate.”

Seymour went down in the second round, earning headlines for the 62-year-old Oscar-nominated star of “The Wrestler.”

Seymour was once an aspiring boxer but never managed to break out and is now a homeless drifter, spending most of his time at the gym, a Starbucks and on benches at Memorial Park in Pasadena, sources said.

“One of the well-known boxing reporters writing about the fight said they might as well have got somebody who was sleeping on the subway and it would’ve been a better opponent,” the family friend said. “Well, what he doesn’t know is that’s pretty much what happened.”

Rourke’s agents did not return multiple messages Sunday seeking comment.

Go to The Post for more.