Micky Ward
George Michael Ward Jr., often known by his nickname, "Irish" Micky Ward, is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2003. He challenged once for the IBF light welterweight title in 1997, and held the WBU light welterweight title in 2000. Ward is widely known for his trilogy of fights with Arturo Gatti, two of which received Fight of the Year awards by The Ring magazine, as well as his devastating left hook to the body and his relentless pressure fighting style. From 2001 to 2003, Ward featured in three straight Fights of the Year. He was portrayed by Mark Wahlberg in the 2010 film The Fighter, which was based on his early career. After retirement he has become a philanthropist.
After winning numerous titles at the amateur level Ward turned pro in 1985. His career was separated into 2 parts with him going into his first retirement in 1991. Then making a comeback in 1994 where he would go on to reach the top of the boxing world. With his first bout Vs Arturo Gatti being viewed as one of the best of all time by fans and writers alike.
Throughout his career Ward was able to win over fans over with his toughness, entertaining fights and his Blue-Collar life style which has led to him being referred to as "The real life Rocky"
He is also known for having one of the biggest hearts in all of boxing never giving up no matter how much the odds were stacked against him. Managing to come back in several fights that he was seemingly compromised in.
He is viewed as a legendary figure in his hometown of Lowell as well as the boxing world as a whole.
Ancestry and early life
Ward's maternal great-grandmother, Annie Greenhalge, was born in Ireland, the daughter of Michael and Mary Carroll. His maternal great-great-great grandparents, Peter McMahon and Ann Quinn, were from County Tyrone, Ireland. They fled Ireland during the 1850s to escape poverty and arrived in Boston, Massachusetts. They settled in the Acre neighborhood of Lowell, and worked as laborers and millworkers. Ward was born to his parents Alice and George Sr. Born George Michael Ward Jr he was nicknamed Micky by his family at an early age. He grew up in Lowell with his brother Dicky along with seven sisters. Besides boxing, Ward also played a variety of other sports growing up, such as baseball, as well as earning a reputation as a formidable free safety on the gridiron and establishing himself as a worthy wrestler on the mats, even winning a Lowell city tournament in junior high. Ward attended Lowell High school.At the age of 12 Ward sat ringside when his brother Dicky fought Sugar Ray Leonard. Ward later credited his brother as his inspiration for starting his boxing career. Dicky struggled with legal and substance abuse problems, but still served as Ward's trainer for his entire career.
Wards Mother Alice would serve as his manager for much of his early boxing career.
At an early age Ward started working as a road-paver. One time while on the job a Ward suffered a freak accident where a hand tamper went up his rear side. This left Ward in critical condition resulting in him needing reconstructive surgery. In later interviews Ward has jokingly referred to the incident as "The biggest pain in the ass he has ever had". Ward was fighting pro while this happened and made a full recovery 10 months later.
Amateur career
In 1972, at age seven, Ward competed in his first amateur bout, the start of a successful amateur career. In 1977, at age eleven, he entered and advanced to the finals of the New England Junior Olympics, before dropping a close decision to a fighter from Lynn in the championship. However, he ended up winning the tournament the following year in 1978. With his brother Dicky by his side, Ward climbed up the amateur rankings. In 1980, he won gold in the 90-pound division at Silver Mittens after finishing runner up in 1978 and 1979. In 1983, he fought and won the New England AAU tournament, earning a trip to Lake Placid, New York for the regional finals. There, he met and befriended a 16-year-old Mike Tyson, who was also competing in the tournament's heavyweight division. Ward won the regional tournament at the 139 pound division, then earning a trip to the nationals in Colorado Springs. Ward was also a three-time New England Golden Gloves champion boxer. He finished with an amateur record of 62-10.Professional career
Early career
Ward had his first professional bout on June 13, 1985 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, defeating David Morin by TKO in the first round. He won his second fight in his hometown of Lowell, getting a 4th round TKO victory over Greg Young.Coming off back-to-back knockout wins in his home state of Massachusetts, Ward traveled to Atlantic City to meet matchmaker Teddy Brenner. Looking to push his career forward, Ward quickly applied to on a card down in Atlantic City. However, New Jersey Athletic Commission rules stated that fighters must wait a mandatory two weeks between bouts, so when Ward's team was filling out the paperwork to be on the Atlantic City card, they bumped up the date of his last fight in order to fall into the criteria of this mandate. The NJ athletic commissioner Joe Walcott caught the oversight and suspended Ward for an unspecified period. Walcott retired in December 1985, and Larry Hazzard took over his position, lifting Ward's suspension immediately and giving him a clean slate. Hazzard later stated, "Waiving Micky Ward's suspension is one of the best decisions I've ever made."
With his suspension lifted, Ward made his Atlantic City debut on January 10, 1986 with a 3rd round TKO of Chris Bajor. This kicked off Ward's relationship with the city, as his next six fights would all take place there. He won all six, four of them coming by way of KO. His time in Atlantic City helped his career due to the exposure he received on national television through ESPN's Top Rank Boxing program, which dubbed Atlantic City their home base for their weekly Saturday night fights. Ward ended up with a record 28 fights on ESPN.
However, for his 10th professional fight, Top Rank Boxing followed Ward back to his home town of Lowell. There, he faced a fellow top prospect out of Massachusetts, John Rafuse. The fight ended in an 8th round unanimous decision for Ward. Two more convincing wins followed, bringing his record to 12-0.
Ward got the call to be on the undercard for the April 6, 1987 "Fight of the Century", marking the first time he would head out west to fight in Las Vegas. Ward made the most of this opportunity, beating Kelly Koble via TKO in the 4th round. He returned to Atlantic City for his next bout vs Derrick McGuire, once again winning by TKO in the 4th round, improving to 14-0. During his next fight he came up short to Edwin Curet by split decision, losing his first professional fight. He recovered nicely though, as he got a first round TKO of Joey Ferrell in his next fight. He then picked up back-to-back unanimous decision victories over Joey Oliver and David Silva.
In Ward's next fight he faced Mike Mungin, Mungin, a replacement for Ward's original opponent, came into the fight 20 pounds of muscle overweight. Even though Ward gave up nearly three weight classes to his opponent, he was still able to put up a close fight, but ultimately lost via unanimous decision. Coming off this frustrating loss, he scored a 3rd round TKO of Francisco Tomas da Cruz in his following bout. After accumulating a 19-2 record, Ward would earn his first title shot when he fought Frankie Warren for the USBA light welterweight title, but he failed to capture the title, losing in a unanimous decision. Ward won his next two bouts, getting a 5th round TKO of Clarence Coleman and a split decision over David Rivello. However, his career leveled off, and after some tough match making he lost his next four fights in 1990/91. Ward decided to go into his first retirement from boxing to focus on being a father to his daughter Kasie, and to work and live a regular blue-collar life.
Hiatus
During Ward's time away from the sport, he used funds from his day job on a road-paving crew to have surgery on his right hand, which had given him problems during several bouts. The surgery used some of the bone from his pelvis to strengthen and fuse the bones in his hand. During this period Ward also worked as a correctional officer at the Middlesex House of Correction.During his hiatus many of Wards family and friends would ask him if he missed the sport he later recalled “I would tell them I was good with where I am at. I’m happy doing what I’m doing.” Ward eventually found himself back in a boxing gym when Lowell Police Chief Mickey O'Keefe asked Ward to come by his gym and work out with him a little. "It was a no pressure offer so I did. As soon as I got back in there it felt good. I did miss it. Slowly I started getting in there a little more and more and before you knew it we were training somewhat regularly." O'Keefe implemented strength-based drills and exercises. The results gave Ward a new level of raw strength and confidence, helping lead him to his eventual return to the ring. Besides Ward's physical changes, there was a second noticeable change as well. Before his retirement in 1991, his style had been similar to his brother Dicky's, with lots of movement. With his new physique and his increased power, he wanted to refine his approach in the ring. Ward stated, "I wasn't going to be dancing anymore. I was going to move forward and punch with intention." When his longtime head trainer, his brother Dicky, was released from jail, Ward was finally ready to make a comeback.
Ward still worked his road paving job throughout the rest of his boxing career in between fights.
Comeback
Ward made a successful comeback, having his first bout in nearly three years on June 17, 1994. He got a 5th round TKO vs Luis Castillo. He won his next four fights, all coming by KO/TKO. This led to him earning a shot at the WBU intercontinental light welterweight title vs the undefeated 31-0 Louis Veader. The bout took place at the FleetCenter in Boston Massachusetts. Ward dropped Veader with a left hook to the body in the 9th round, winning the title by TKO. He granted Veader an immediate rematch three months later, successfully defending the title, winning by unanimous decision.Coming off back-to-back big wins, Ward was scheduled to fight Julio Cesar Chavez on December 6, 1996. The bout would be the biggest of his career. On December 1, five days before the fight, Chavez pulled out of the match, claiming he had hurt his hand while training. Against the advice of his team, Ward took a last-minute replacement fight vs Manny Castillo. The fight was a 10 round slugfest, but Ward ultimately won via split decision.
During his next fight in a spot of the main card of Pernell Whitaker vs. Oscar De La Hoya, a 1997 match that would come to typify the exceptional power of Ward's left hook to the body, he scored a 7th-round knockout against the then-undefeated 16-0 Mexican Alfonso Sanchez in a fight that Ward, up to then, was clearly losing on points. Shortly before the punch, Emanuel Augustus said the fight should be stopped. Afterwards, HBO boxing commentator Larry Merchant called it one of the most extraordinary things he'd ever seen in boxing.
Ward's left hook to the body later resulted in a first-round knockout of Steve Quinonez, and a nine-count knockdown of Arturo Gatti in their first fight.
After going on a nine-fight winning streak since his comeback, Ward earned a 1997 IBF Light Welterweight Championship fight against champion Vince Phillips, but did not win the championship, as the fight was stopped in the third round due to cuts, and Phillips was awarded the bout via TKO. This was the only stoppage loss of Ward's entire career. After the fight, he was told by his doctor that if the cut had gone any deeper, he could have lost sight in his eye. Ward took eight months off to fully recover.
Making his return on April 14, 1998, he got a 3rd round KO victory over Mark Fernandez. However, Ward again came up short in a title fight, as he would give Zab Judah a good fight but ultimately lost a 12-round decision. Judah later credited Ward as the toughest fight of his career. After this, Ward strung together back-to-back wins, beating Jose Mendez by 3rd round TKO and forcing a 5th round RTD of Jermal Corbin.