Micky Ward

Micky Ward
Data
Birth Name	George Michael Ward Jr.
Weight class	Light welterweight
nationality	US-american
birthday	4th October 1965
place of birth	Lowell , Massachusetts
style	Left delivery
size	1.73 m
Combat Statistics
Struggles	51
Victories	38
Knockout victories	27
Defeats	13

George Michael "Mickey" Ward Jr. (* 4. October 1965 in Lowell , Massachusetts ) is a retired, American professional boxer of Irish descent and former world champion of the WBU at light welterweight .

Ward was known for his above-average taker skills and his left hook to the opponent's body, which helped him win several times.

Three of his fights were voted "Fight of the Year" by Ring Magazine (the one against Emanuel Augustus in 2001 and the one against Arturo Gatti in 2002 and 2003). His first duel against Gatti is also considered by boxing experts and specialist magazines to be one of the toughest and most spectacular fights of the decade.

Boxing career

Micky Ward started boxing at the age of seven. His older half-brother Dick Eklund was also a boxer at the time and was best known for his fight against the later boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard , to which he was defeated on points.

Micky Ward was already regionally successful as an amateur boxer. He won the New England Golden Gloves three times, the New England Championships of the Amateur Boxing Federation twice, the Junior Olympics and the Silver Mittens (?) (Predecessor of the Golden Gloves). His most spectacular amateur victory was against Joey Gamache in 1983, a two-time US champion and later professional world champion.

In 1985 he switched to the professional camp and won his first 14 fights, 10 of them by knockout. Initially, he mainly boxed against opponents in the development phase in order to get used to the changed conditions in the professional camp. One of the defeated opponents was also the later New England champion John Rafuse, whom he defeated on August 29, 1986 with a unanimous victory on points.

On September 25, 1987 he suffered the first defeat of his professional career when he was defeated by Edwin Curet just on points. In his next fight on January 15, 1988, he defeated the New York champion Joey Ferrell by tKo in the 1st round. Only one month later he also defeated the Californian champion Joey Olivera by unanimous victory on points and on July 9th the Pennsylvania champion Marvin Garris by tKo in round 2.

On September 9, 1988, he again suffered a point defeat against the powerful Mike Mungin (17 wins, 12 of which were knocked out). Ward was badly marked after the duel, but in this fight he already demonstrated his enormous ability to take and his will to fight. On December 13, 1988 he achieved an impressive performance when he defeated the multiple Brazilian champion , South American champion and World Cup challenger Francisco Tomas Da Cruz by tKo in the 3rd round.

On January 15, 1989, he boxed for the US championship title , but lost to Frankie Warren by losing points. On May 23, however, he beat World Cup challenger Clarence Coleman by tKo in round 5. From April 1990 to October 1991 he lost four fights in a row and then ended his career for 32 months.

His comeback in June 1994 was a complete success; he won nine fights in a row, seven of which by knockout. He won the intercontinental championship of the WBU on April 13, 1996 by tKo in round 9 against Louis Veader, who was unbeaten in 31 fights, and also won the rematch by unanimously winning points. He also defeated the undefeated Mexican champion Alfonso Sánchez by knockout in round 7. These successes gave him the chance of a world championship fight; he boxed on August 9, 1997 in Boston for the world title of the IBF , but lost in round 3 by tKo, as the referee broke off the fight due to a cut injury to Ward's eye. However, this remained his only premature defeat.

On April 14, 1998, he beat the former world title challenger Mark Fernandez by knockout. In round 3. On 7 June 1998, he was in the fight for interime US championship, the undefeated, later six times world champion Zab Judah against and lost significantly on points. With four knockout victories in a row against strong opponents, including the North American champion and two-time World Cup challenger Reggie Green, he was allowed to fight for the WBU world title on March 11, 2000 in London . He defeated the undefeated title holder Shea Neary in a tough fight by tKo in round 8. It was his only fight outside the USA.

But already his next fight on August 19, 2000 he lost on points against IBA title holder Antonio Díaz. After a first-round knockout win against North America champion Steve Quiñonez, he boxed on July 13, 2001 in Hampton Beach against the former IBF and WBO intercontinental champion Emanuel Augustus. Almost the entire fight was fought in the ring ropes, in round nine Ward landed a left body hook that sent Augustus to the ground. Ward won the fight unanimously on points after ten rounds. The duel was voted Fight of the Year by Ring Magazine.

On January 5, 2002 he boxed against former WBC world champion Jesse Leija . The fight was stopped in round 5 because Leija suffered a laceration from an accidental headbutt by Ward, with which he could not continue boxing. As Leija had just led on points up to this point, he was declared the winner.

On May 18, 2002, he boxed in Uncasville (Connecticut) for the first time against the former IBF and later WBC world champion Arturo Gatti . Ward was only intended as a build-up opponent for Gatti to bring him closer to the WBC championship with a win. Gatti, like Ward, was known as a good taker and tough puncher.

At first it looked like another quick win for Gatti. Gatti clearly dominated the first round and landed numerous hits, Ward also suffered a bleeding cut injury over the right eye. In the second round, Ward landed a few impact hits, but Gatti continued to lead with a hit ratio of 3: 1. In the third round, Ward caught up with Gatti and had an open exchange of blows, in which he also used his most famous punch, the left body hook. In the fourth round Gatti landed a low blow and was punished with a point deduction; he had already been warned several times by the referee to raise his blows. Due to the intensity of the fight that was now emerging, in which Gatti also suffered swelling in his face, the commentators present were already speaking of a fight of the year .

The fifth lap was extremely spectacular and put Gatti in dire straits. Eleven successive blows from Gatti, which pushed Ward on the ropes, responded with a 15-second hail of blows against the almost uncovered Gatti. He suffered almost 20 hits in the head and again left body hooks and was visibly damaged. At the beginning of the sixth round it was already a draw on points. In this round, however, Gatti was able to take the lead again and landed more hits, a highlight of the round were also about ten consecutive punches by Ward, which Gatti avoided by clever avoidance movements. Round seven went back to Gatti, while round eight went to Ward, who brought Gatti to the edge of a knockout for the first time at the end of the round. In the ninth lap, Gatti had to go down after another left body hook and was counted to nine. Then he was careful to cover his body, which is why he had to take many head hits. Gatti, for his part, was now able to push Ward back and hit the ropes with blows. After the two were briefly separated from the referee, Ward regained the upper hand and again brought Gatti to the brink of precipitation. Due to the fact that the number of points was tight up to that point, both tried to win the tenth and last lap.

In the end, Micky Ward won just on points, the fight was again voted Fight of the Year by Ring Magazine, and the ninth round was also voted Round of the Year.

A rematch was held in Atlantic City on November 23 . The fight was again extremely spectacular, in round three Gatti also managed a knockdown. His energetic attempt to hit the now dazed Ward with the decisive knockout blow failed, instead Ward regained the upper hand and landed several impact hits. Both opponents were already marked in the face in the fourth round. After another ten laps, this time it was Gatti who was declared the winner on points.

On June 7, 2003 there was a decisive third duel between Ward and Gatti, held again over ten rounds in Atlantic City. This was also Ward's last professional fight. The third duel was just as spectacular as the first, both boxers took turns winning the upper hand and brought her into trouble several times. At the end of the sixth round Ward managed a knockdown, whereupon Gatti was counted to eight. In the end, however, Arturo Gatti was declared the point winner again. The bout was again named Bout of the Year by Ring Magazine.

In the three fights against Gatti, Ward had taken 975 hits.

Adaptation

In the US film The Fighter , Ward's path to fame is described, although it first has to come through a deep trough. He himself is played by Mark Wahlberg and his half-brother by Christian Bale . The film was released in German cinemas on April 7, 2011.

The song The Warrior's Code by the Boston punk rock band Dropkick Murphys is about Micky Ward. A photo of him can be seen on the album cover of the same name.

As a tribute to the three fights between Ward and Gatti, the hip-hop group Jedi Mind Tricks named the two versions of their song "Animal Rap" on the accompanying 12 "release with" Arturo-Gatti-Mix "and" Micky-Ward- Mix ".

Web links

• Official website
• Micky Ward in the BoxRec database

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