Micky Ward my favorite fighter

rufus payne · Post by **rufus payne** » 21 Apr 2006, 00:32

Irish" Micky Ward (born October 4, 1965) is a junior welterweight professional boxer from Lowell, Massachusetts. Ward won three New England Golden Gloves titles as an amateur before turning pro in 1985. After a stretch of defeats in the early 1990s, Ward hung up the gloves for a period of three years. He returned in 1994 with a vengeance, winning nine straight fights and earning some fights against big name fighters like Arturo Gatti.
Ward is known for his devastating left hook to the body and his ability to withstand punishment while waiting to land his trademark shot. A perennial underdog, he has been known to lose every minute of every round and then suddenly drop his opponent in the late rounds with a single shot to the body (as he did against Emanuel Burton, Antonio Diaz, and Shea Neary).

After a 15-year pro career, the veteran Ward gained widespread fame in his May 20, 2002 fight with Arturo Gatti, which was broadcast live on HBO. Ward-Gatti I saw both fighters withstand an amazing amount of punishment through 10 rounds of non-stop action. Ward, who dropped Gatti in the ninth round with a vicious left hook to the body, won the fight by majority decision.

Ward-Gatti I was hailed as the "Fight of the Century" by boxing fans and writers, and Round 9 of that bout was called "The Round of the Century" by George Foreman, who co-hosted the fight live on HBO. Both fighters showed such heart and sportsmanship through the grueling fight that many felt the fight helped to revive a sport which has been plagued by showboating, corruption, and greed since the 1970s.

In their rematch, Gatti fought a smart fight and neutralized Ward's body punching power by boxing and staying low. In the third round, Gatti knocked Ward to the canvas with a thundering overhand right which landed on Ward's ear. Ward, stunned, sprawled into the turnbuckle and stayed down for the mandatory 8 count. Nobody, especially Gatti (who after the fight called it "the hardest punch I've ever landed") expected Ward to get up, never mind finish the fight. It later turned out that Gatti had fractured his right hand with that shot.

Commentators noted that if it had been any other fighter than Ward, the referee would have stopped the fight in the third round. Indeed, some feel the fight should have been stopped as Ward took an additional 7 rounds of punishment in a lopsided Gatti victory. Ward and Gatti earned over one million dollars a piece for Ward-Gatti II.

Ward and Gatti had a third fight, on June 8 of 2003. Despite dropping Gatti in round six, Ward lost by a ten round unanimous decision. While Ward has never held a world title, he won the respect and admiration of many fans worldwide at this late stage in his career. Before his final fight with Gatti, Micky Ward announced his plans to retire after the fight.

In his native Massachusetts, Micky Ward is regarded as a working class hero, a blue-collar athlete who has overcome many difficulties in life and prevailed through determination and hard work.

Migz · Post by **Migz** » 21 Apr 2006, 01:54

Decagon wrote:Lame. We're sitting here talking about Ezzard Charles and Joe Louis, and you bring up a clubfighter like Ward?

lmao tru.. why bring up a B or even C grade fighter like ward.. i sure there are better things to talk about

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 22 Apr 2006, 11:16

Ward was an outstanding fighter, maybe not an all time great in terms of ability but to demean a fighter who has given so much to the game is very small minded... if you don't want to discuss Micky then just go onto other threads rather than post your childish put downs...

JAHamilton77 · Post by **JAHamilton77** » 22 Apr 2006, 11:46

Decagon wrote:Lame. We're sitting here talking about Ezzard Charles and Joe Louis, and you bring up a clubfighter like Ward?

The forum is "Boxers of the Past" not "Great Boxers of the Past" what kind of arrogant small minded crap are you running to demean him for posting about Mickey Ward? I could understand talking crap if he called Mickey an all time great, or said he could take down Kid Gavilan or something lame like that, but he is just posting something on his favorite fighter......

I usually respect your opinions, and I generally respect the opinions of the posters on Boxers of the Past forum..... They know ALOT about boxing history and eras I myself dont know much about, so I get alot out of this forum and it gives me jumping off points on things I want to read more about.... But I don't like people being all high minded and saying something is not wrothy of posting.

Maybe Micky Ward is a little recent, maybe he was much more than an above average fighter, maybe you dont like him (I am not the biggest Micky Ward fan), maybe you dont want to talk about him....... But maybe some people do like him or want to talk about him.... If they dont this post will slowly drift down the list and to the back of the line......

I am all for people not creating useless posts that clog up the board and push good threads back.... but from what I read this was a nice enough post giving some info on his favorite fighter of the past. If you dont want to read or talk about Ward dont read or post on this thread....

Boxing is a sport of the common man, not a place for snobbish behavior

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 22 Apr 2006, 14:35

Micky Ward is great guy and turned in some magnificent performances. I think he deserves some credit. He was the FedEx guy for liver shots, he'd keep tryin to deliver that shot even if the weather was rough.

Nothing wrong with a good clubfighter getting some notice, and I think he transcended basic clubfighter status with the Burton and Gatti fights alone.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 22 Apr 2006, 15:05

Decagon wrote:Blah, blah, blah. He was only fighting a few years ago, he was a clubfighter, and the only reason he made so much money was that he's white. Turn on Telefutura any week, and you'll see fighters with just as much talent and dedication as Mickey Ward. There was absolutely nothing special about him, except for the way he was marketed.

Why don't you go away and have a lay down and stop making a fool of yourself... who do you think you are belittling a man who has done a heck of a lot in boxing, what have you done?...

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 22 Apr 2006, 15:11

A clubfighter is a guy who basically is not world class... Ward was a world class fighter... one of the best body punchers of his divison... he had a lot of ups and downs in his career but it is to his credit that he came back and got himself up to contender status in his mid and late 30s... that takes some doing and deserves respect rather than stupid put downs by certain people who don't know what their talking about....

mattyp151 · Post by **mattyp151** » 22 Apr 2006, 15:23

Yeah, Ward was so terrible that he went up against some of the best hitters in the game, lost 10 times, and only once by knockout...and he was also so terrible that he four times in his career, and 3 of them were due to ear injuries...he was really terrible.

Grimm · Post by **Grimm** » 22 Apr 2006, 15:46

Mattyp151 wrote:Yeah, Ward was so terrible that he went up against some of the best hitters in the game, lost 10 times, and only once by knockout...and he was also so terrible that he four times in his career, and 3 of them were due to ear injuries...he was really terrible.

And that knockout was on cuts.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 22 Apr 2006, 15:50

As for him being 'marketed' ...early in his career Ward was thrown in with a lot of top fighters before he was really ready it actually took him about 15 years before he really made it, ...so much for the marketing!!...

mattyp151 · Post by **mattyp151** » 22 Apr 2006, 15:59

silkov wrote:As for him being 'marketed' ...early in his career Ward was thrown in with a lot of top fighters before he was really ready it actually took him about 15 years before he really made it, ...so much for the marketing!!...

Cuz marketing a guy with no tremendous power, no tremendous speed, and fights on heart and the will to win is the easiest thing to do.

How many people knew of him before the Augustus fight, and how many knew of him before Gatti?

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 22 Apr 2006, 16:36

In a way by being the gatekeeper to the "upper crust fighters" he became a great himself.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 22 Apr 2006, 17:55

If anything he had the rep of being a tough luck type of fighter who didn't get any breaks... lost his world title shot on a cut... his real breakthrough fight was when he beat Neary.... then there was the Augustus and Green fights... then Gatti... this isn't a guy who took the soft route and fought hand picked guys under his weight etc... Ward always fought good calibre opposition...

Expug · Post by **Expug** » 22 Apr 2006, 20:05

I have a ton of respect for Ward. Hes one of my favorites . Great kid never talked any shit, good for the sport and fought whoever they put him in with. Always gave it 100 percent. I dont see that he was ever coddled either he fought alot of tough guys. Come to think of it I dont see how anyone could have a problem with this guy really.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 22 Apr 2006, 20:08

expug wrote:I have a ton of respect for Ward. Hes one of my favorites . Great kid never talked any shit, good for the sport and fought whoever they put him in with. Always gave it 100 percent. I dont see that he was ever coddled either he fought alot of tough guys. Come to think of it I dont see how anyone could have a problem with this guy really.

Totally agree, Ward is just the type of fighter who should be remembered... credit to the game both in and out of the ring...

JAHamilton77 · Post by **JAHamilton77** » 22 Apr 2006, 21:53

Mattyp151 wrote:Yeah, Ward was so terrible that he went up against some of the best hitters in the game, lost 10 times, and only once by knockout...and he was also so terrible that he four times in his career, and 3 of them were due to ear injuries...he was really terrible.

Betcha Matty sniffed someone dissing Ward from a mile away, I knew you'd come defend your boy.....

Expug · Post by **Expug** » 22 Apr 2006, 22:56

Decagon wrote:He didn't deserve the decision in any of his last five fights. There are plenty of Mexican and black fighters who are just as dedicated. Caveman Lee was Mickey Ward with a punch.

Yeah but Caveman didnt have Mickeys heart. And his heart and chin combined with his tremendous Lefthook to the body made for a very exciting fighter.

Expug · Post by **Expug** » 22 Apr 2006, 23:58

Nobody disputes that there are plenty of Mexican fighters with heart , skill and great lefthooks. But Mickey brought alot more to the table than Caveman Lee.

Expug · Post by **Expug** » 23 Apr 2006, 01:24

Never saw Lee -Locicero , heard it was a great fight but Ward was in quite a few great fights. I dont care what color Ward is , he was a warrior and thats where its at.

sockdolager · Post by **sockdolager** » 23 Apr 2006, 03:06

Decagon, take it easy on my man Mickey! he has retired and people can post about him if they choose. He is huge up here in the NE, and I assume has built himself a large fan base on his fights w/ Agustus and Gatti alone. If you are so concerned about all these Hispanic and black fighters that get no notice than post about them! Id love to hear about those guys because I have limited knowledge of fighters not seen on TV or read in books.

adspath · Post by **adspath** » 23 Apr 2006, 04:40

Ward is a bit more than a club fighter, no doubt about that. Just look at the 3 fights with Gatti they produced they will never be forgotten. But i would never consider Ward as a great he just seems to be very standard but still uses his skills well and produced great fights. It takes a lot of heart to stay in the game even though you know you're not going to a champion.

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 23 Apr 2006, 08:04

Decagon wrote:I agree. Ward was white, and he got a couple of bogus decisions. Also, I don't think he's ever robbed a bank. Other than that, Lee has him beat. Lee-LoCicero is better than any fight Micky Ward ever had.

Lee vs Locicero is basically a brawl between two fighters with very limited skills and poor chins... if you knew anything about boxing you'd know that Ward had far better skills than Lee... also Wards fights against Green, Burton, Neary and Gatti are on the whole far better fights than the Locicero fight... more skill and more action for longer... try watching the fights if you them...

mattyp151 · Post by **mattyp151** » 23 Apr 2006, 12:52

JAHamilton77 wrote:
Mattyp151 wrote:Yeah, Ward was so terrible that he went up against some of the best hitters in the game, lost 10 times, and only once by knockout...and he was also so terrible that he four times in his career, and 3 of them were due to ear injuries...he was really terrible.

Betcha Matty sniffed someone dissing Ward from a mile away, I knew you'd come defend your boy.....

Yes, he wasn't the most skilled fighter, but he was a terrific body puncher and had a heart of gold. That guy never quit, never got KOed, and always gave every fight his best shot even if it's hopeless at the onset. How many boxers are there like that right now? Gatti...maybe that's it? You wonder why people consider their trilogy one of the best ever.

mattyp151 · Post by **mattyp151** » 23 Apr 2006, 14:45

Decagon wrote:There are hundreds of fighters exactly like that in Mexico right now. If Ward had stepped up his competition, he would've been kayoed.

And those guys in Mexico would have a great fanbase as Ward did after the Augustus fight, except they haven't put themself in the position to do so. And doing it on the Mexican stage, and doing in on the World Stage are two different animals.

Micky did it, you're comparing him to guys who haven't and may never.

BoxBuzz · Post by **BoxBuzz** » 23 Apr 2006, 15:23

Decagon wrote:Ward has no skills.

Eh? That's a clumsy assessment.....I know you can do better than that. He has many skills and you know it. I think your trying to say something here, you just haven't found what it is you want to say. So you just spit that tripe out.

I mean he has plenty of skills, which ones don't you like? His less than perfect defense? Or his ability to throw that well timed liver shot? His rugged durability? Both the latter are certainly better than the former, none are championship quality but the last two mentioned are pretty impressive.

Do you feel it is unfair that he comes from a certain geography? Cuz that's how it appears, and who in the world is in control of that? The place that you and I can agree is that economically depressed areas do tend (on average) to produce a better class of fighter than does the alternative economic settings. Something called inspiration and motivation have much to do with that. Were you implying something else within your statements?