'Irish' Micky Ward Keeps Busy: Exclusive Phone Interview

From legendarily historic boxing matches, to fundraisers, and now Hollywood, former boxer Micky Ward (38-13-0) has never stopped inspiring.

Ward is widely known for his astonishing trilogy with former world champion Arturo Gatti (40-9-0). Their bouts displayed heart like I’ve never seen before, and created a very important page in boxing history.

Recently, famous Hollywood actors Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale starred in a movie called The Fighter, playing Micky Ward and his coach Dick Eklund respectively. The movie was of biographical nature, telling the story of Ward’s and Eklund’s rise to fame in boxing. 

I have had the pleasure of chatting with Ward before, but as stated previously, the man keeps busy. It has been much harder to get a hold of Ward, as I would constantly catch him at the gym or some admirable fundraiser. Finally, yesterday March 4, 2011, I caught up with Ward, and was able to speak with him for a few minutes. Despite the fact that he was out the door, he was nice enough to give me an opportunity for a quick phone interview.  

Micky Ward Interview:

VS: How are you and what are you doing nowadays?

MW: Doing good. Doing a lot of traveling around. I’m back in Boston. I own an outdoor deck hockey rink and I own a boxing gym here also.

VS: Where do you think boxing is headed? Is it going up, or starting to decline?

MW: I don’t think boxing is going to go anywhere. It’s probably not as popular out there as it was a while ago, but it will come back. All it needs is a couple of good fights, and a great big heavyweight and it will be back.

VS: The Fighter, it’s been out for a while now. Is it accurate to your real life, your true story? How did you like the move overall?

MW: I liked it. Obviously there were some things put in were not all accurate, but it’s pretty much right on.  

VS: Did Dicky like the movie?

MW: He like it. He was actually skeptical of it, but he liked it.

VS: There are some good fights coming up. There is the Cotto vs. Mayorga fight; do you know anything about it?

MW: I just heard about it not too long ago, it’s going to be a good fight. Cotto is a busier guy, and throws straighter punches, but Mayorga punches so hard, who knows…

VS: We also have Pacquiao vs. Mosley fight coming up. What are your thoughts on that?

MW: A great fight. You can’t count Mosley out I'll tell you that. He is a great fighter and a big guy too. So who knows, you never really know in boxing.

VS: Let’s say Mosley came to you for advice, what would you say?

MW: Move around. Keep your hand high. Try and catch him jumping in. Or when he sneaks in; he is the bigger guy. Just try to counter-punch him.

VS: There has been a lot of talk lately about a number of fighters including Pacquiao, using PEDs/steroids. What are thought on that in boxing? You have been in boxing for a while, around people and trainers. Is this something that fans need to worry about, or is it most likely speculation?

MW: I personally have never seen it. I know what goes on, but I don’t know what’s going on in boxing, who knows…it could be, but I have never seen it.

VS: So in your days, this wants so much of a problem?

MW: No. I don’t think so. They didn’t look at it back then. Nowadays everything is under scrutiny.

VS: Are you planning on attending any fights anytime soon?

MW: I might yeah, I’m thinking about it. But Mosley is going to put pressure on him.

VS: So is Mosley your official pick than?

MW: No. (Laughs)

This did not turn out to be a long enough interview, with much left unanswered. Still, I am thankful that Ward spoke with me. He assured me that in a few weeks he will become more available, thus I will be calling him back for a full interview soon.