By Matthew Hurley

After retiring from boxing following his third fight with Arturo Gatti in 2003, “Irish” Micky Ward underwent surgery on both of his eyes in order to repair blurred peripheral vision that was both the result of that final fight and all the memorable wars he participated in during his 51 bout career.  Ward, who struggled mightily on the outskirts of big time boxing, plying his craft primarily on the east coast, finally broke through to the mainstream during a hellacious battle with Emanuel Augustus on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights in 2001.  Always a local fan favorite, the fight catapulted the left-hooking Irishman when the bout was declared the “Fight of the Year”.  He would only fight four more times after that but he had finally made his mark.

Micky Ward began his career in 1985 with a TKO in the first round over David Morin.  He would go on to win thirteen more fights before dropping a decision to Edwin Curet in 1987.  From there on Ward perfected his style, an orthodox stance with hands held high in front of his face while charging forward looking for an opening to land his powerful left hook.  It wasn’t long before his ledger showed losses to upper echelon fighters such as Harold Brazier, Charles Murray, Vince Phillips, Zab Judah and Antonio Diaz.  But to a man each of those fighters remarked on Ward’s toughness and that vaunted left hook. 

The epic trilogy with Gatti solidified Ward’s warrior reputation and also allowed him to bow of the sport on a high note.  Fans still talk breathlessly of those three encounters and, in a pleasant twist of fate, Micky and Arturo have become good friends.  Ward can now be in plain site over Gatti’s shoulder whenever Arturo makes his walk towards the ring.

“I have so much respect for him,” Ward says in his soft spoken manner.  “After fights like the ones we had you just come away from them with such respect and I always liked  Arturo as a person anyway.”

Micky now trains fighters out of his hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts and has recently been involved in the Golden Gloves Tournament.  He’s a fixture at the professional cards in Boston and Dorchester. 

“Boxing is in my blood and I was fortunate enough to come away from it healthy.  I mean, I’ve some problems and injuries along the way but I feel good and I made some good money towards the end of my career.”

During the Golden Gloves tournament I was in the bowels of the Lowell Auditorium during the weigh in sessions for the fighters and was privileged enough to sit down with Micky for a few moments as he registered his fighters.  The respect he commands from the kids and the adults is not surprising.  It’s the way he handles himself that is.  He never turns anyone away, whether it be for a handshake, a photograph, or just to say ‘hello’.  In fact he welcomes the fans in such a humble fashion that if you weren’t aware of what he looked like you’d easily walk right past him.  And it’s that retiring, gentlemanly nature that people find so charming.

But when he is in the corner, shouting instructions to his fighters, that fiery spirit that made him such a formidable fighter in the ring is plainly apparent.  He loves the kids he works with but that work ethic, that willingness to accept pain in order to deliver punishment is something his charges have to deal with. 

“There was no quit in me when I fought,” he says.  “You’re either a fighter or you aren’t.  Lately some fighters have been bowing out on their stool or just turning their backs and I can’t accept that.  It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Micky Ward has easily made the transition from former prize fighter to trainer and family man.  He certainly doesn’t miss the notorious hospital visits that found both he and Arturo Gatti laying side by side, their bodies battered almost beyond relief.  He does miss that charge he would get before the opening bell clanged but it’s not enough to ever warrant a return to the ring.  He’s still around the sport enough to appreciate the sound of the speed bag in the gym, the acrid smell of the sweat and the roar of the crowd from his position at ringside.

“I’m proud of my career,” he says smiling.  “And I’m fine where I am now.  I’m healthy and happy.  That’s really all I ever wanted.”

It’s all any of us wanted for him as well.