The True Story of 'The Fighter' Micky Ward

With the release of the new motion picture "The Fighter" starring Mark Wahlberg as boxer Micky Ward and Christian Bale as his brother and trainer Dick Ecklund, there is a burgeoning reemergence of curiosity about Micky Ward's life as depicted in the film and his life past the film's cut-off.

Micky Ward's life started in Lowell, Massachusetts on October 4, 1965. His older brother Dicky Ecklund, according to BoxRec, was already eight years old at the time. Growing up, Micky's older Dicky was a noted fighter, winner of the Golden Gloves award, and a welterweight fighter who would eventually go up against notables like Sugar Ray Leonard before becoming a drug addict and doing a stint in prison.

Micky himself was the winner of multiple Golden Gloves ward and embarked on a successful prize fighting career before a series of loses and a nagging injury sidelined him. According to the book "Irish Thunder: The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward" by Bob Halloran, Micky reported that his hand was actually injured not in boxing, but by policemen in the city of Lowell. Micky stated that while removing policeman from his brother Dicky during a mini-brawl outside the Cosmo club that his hands were cuffed behind his back and then hit repeatedly with a flashlight.

While out of the limelight, Micky had his hand repaired using bone from his pelvis to strengthen and fuse together the remaining healthy bones. After this surgery, Micky's brother was released from prison and began to help Micky train again. Ward's statistics after his reemergence were nine consecutive wins and a WBU 's Intercontinental Light Welterweight Title.

The next highly notable moment in Ward's career came in 2001 when Micky won a fight that would be the first of three of his fights labeled a Ring magazine fight of the year according to DBE1. Micky Ward entered the ring against Emanuel Burton and each went 10 rounds. Ward ended up winning the fight via a strongly contested decision.

From here he progressed to the three fights that remain the most noted of his career, match-ups against Arturo Gatti in 2002 and 2003. Ward won a majority decision in the first fight while Gattin won the second fight and the third fight as well. Both the first fight and third fight were Ring magazine fights of the year.

Micky Ward retired after the last match with Gattin and returned to Lowell, Michigan where, his Official Mickey Ward website biography states, he now owns a gym and trains children. Ward is also part owner of a local hockey ring and drives trucks for the Teamsters union, Local 25 in Boston.

In a recent interview with USA Today, Micky Ward said this about the movie "The Fighter," "I was very happy with it. Mark (Wahlberg) and Christian (Bale) did a hell of a job. I'm very proud of how they portrayed it."

Sources:

Halloran, Bob. "Irish Thunder: The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward." Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press. 2008. Print.
"Dick Ecklund." Box Rec.
Velin, Bob. "Micky Ward: Friend, rival Arturo Gatti would have liked "The Fighter." USA Today.
"Biography." Micky Ward Official Website.
"Micky Ward." DBE.