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Saturday, October 22nd, 1994
Hansehalle; Luebeck, Germany
Mickey Rourke 7-0-2 (3) California
vs. (6 rounds)
Frank Wuestenberghs 1-3 (0) Belgium
- Exactly 3 weeks after his last fight Mickey Rourke returned to the ring as promised in a fight scheduled for 6 rounds.
- Frank Wuestenberghs was notified and accepted the fight less than 3 days before it was to begin. Little was known of the Belgium born, raised, and trained fighter. He seemed to be settling into the role of opponent with all 4 of his fights taking place in 4 different European countries (Hungary, France, Bulagaria, and Luxembourg). Only one of his opponents, the one he beat, had a losing record.
- Unlike some of Rourke’s opponents, Wuestenberghs was a legitimate light heavy and was about equal to Rourke in height and build.
- Like his last fight, Rourke was reported to have had a fantastic camp and avoided the nightlife he is associated with.
- Rourke looked tentative for the first minute of the fight. Wuestenberghs walked into an uppercut and promptly fell to the floor, where he remained until the count reached 6. Rourke threw caution to the wind from that point forward and wildly flailed away at his Belgian opponent.
- Early in the round Rourke blasted Wuestenberghs in the groin with a blatant low blow, drawing a stern warning from the referee. Less than 30 seconds later, while mauling on the inside, Rourke was warned again. This time the infraction was for pushing down on the neck of Wuestenberghs.
- Round 3 was another round of mauling, holding and hitting and drew some jeers from the relatively small, yet loud, German crowd. Rouke was given his third warning of the fight for fouling. This time he blatantly hit Wuestenberghs on the command to “BREAK!” from the referee.
- After 3 rounds ringside Expert Rocco Del Sesto had it 30 to 27 for Rourke. While the punches landed numbers favored Rourke 38 to 19, the low volume supported the crowds call for more action and understandable jeering of the combatants.
- Another sharp uppercut placed the Belgian on the canvas until the count of 5. When he got up it appeared that he no longer wanted to fight, but the referee motioned for the fighting to resume. Rourke then went back to mauling, pushing, grabbing, and roughing up the sacrificial lamb he had in front of him.
- Wuestenberghs was having his best round of the fight in the 6th until Rourke dropped him with a nice combination. He barely beat the count, but to the frustration of the fans, Rourke was unable to finish him off.
- Once again Rourke was warned by the referee for his tactics of holding and hitting. The sixth and final round of the fight was the ugliest of the ˝ dozen and some in the crowd were booing when the final bell rang.
- Ringside Expert Rocco Del Sesto had it for Rourke by 6 points 59 to 53. Punches landed favored Rourke 97 to 68. The faces of both fighters had hardly a mark on them.
- The official 3 judges, all from Germany, had it 59-52, 60-53, and 58-54 all for the winner by Unanimous Decision ……MICKEY ROURKE!!!
Mickey Rourke Wu6 Frank Wuestenberghs
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