Micky Ward

Micky Ward has gone through battles. The pride of Lowell, Mass., is 39 years old and 16 months removed from the last of three fights with one of his closest friends, Arturo Gatti. We spent the day with Micky as he trained his nephew Sean Eklund, got in a workout, and hit his favorite local pub, Captain John's. Now retired, Mick reminisced about his career, growing up in Lowell, and his fights with Arturo Gatti.

EVERLAST: Did you get into trouble as a kid?
MICKY: I got in trouble when I was younger. Kid stuff. Like, you know, no record or anything. But trespassing, disorderly whatever. I've become a quiet person. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time a couple times. Like the time right before a fight I broke my hand.

E: In a bar fight?
M: Well, outside of a bar.

E: Did you get into other street fights growing up?
M: Here and there. You know how kids fight. A couple punches and they'd be broken up. That wasn't where I learned to fight.

E: Where did you learn to fight?
M: My brother got me fighting when I was 7 years old. He was a pro boxer. My first real time in the ring I was 15. I was raised with boxing.

E: A lot of athletes, when they get the money, they leave their community. You haven't. Why not? M: Lowell is home. I'm not going nowhere. Why would I?


E: How has having money changed your life?
M: It hasn't at all. If it did, I wouldn't be around here. If it did, I'd be living somewhere else.

E: Do you have any famous friends?
M: No. Me (laughing)? My famous friends are Zab and Arturo!

E: What's your best punch?
M: Left hook to the body.

E: Really?
M: Yup. That punch hurts. Bad.

E: What was your routine on fight day?
M: I'd eat in the early morning. Lots of fluids. I'd eat dinner around 5, fish or chicken. For the most part though, I'd relax really. Focus on the fight at hand.

E: You ran the Boston Marathon last year. What's harder, a 12-round bout or a marathon?
M: To be honest, a 12-round fight. If you are ready and prepared for a marathon you are ready. You can always slow down in a marathon if you are having problems. In a marathon nobody is trying to beat you up.

E: What's it like fighting the same guy (Gatti) three times in a row?
M: It's kind of hard because he changed his style for each fight. He brawled, and I won. Then he boxed me the next two fights and won.

E: Is it true that you don't remember the second fight with Arturo?
M: I don't remember any of it. None of it. I've seen it on video a couple times though.

E: Talk about your surgery to repair your double vision.
M: In the third fight he hit me and my brain shifted in my head and hit the back of my skull. Screwed up my peripheral vision. They had to go to in and even me off. Intense.

E: You and Arturo became friends though, right?
M: Me and Arturo? Best of friends. I'll be in his corner for his next fight. It's weird how that happens.

E: Now that you're a trainer, do you have one piece of advice that you live by that you tell all your fighters?
M: Yes I do. Never cut corners. Train hard and don't cut corners. Because if you do, it will come back to kick you in the ass. Guaranteed.

E: What was it like fighting Zab Judah?
M: That was an experience. Like fighting lightning. Speed. Speed. Speed. And he had some pop. Even more pop now. It is Zab's time. He is the man in the welterweight division. He'd take De la Hoya.

E: Were you ever scared in the ring?
M: Never. You don't think like that in the ring. You can't afford to.