Punching Out

North Shore Golf sits in the corner with Lowell’s Micky Ward for 18 questions

By Gary Trask

As soon as the words come out of Micky Ward’s mouth, you can’t help but cringe.

You realize boxing is a barbaric sport. You saw all of the Rocky movies. You know that blood, bruises and internal injuries come with the territory. But a fighter having his brain “shifted” during a fight? That’s one you’ve never heard.

“Yeah, I got hit so hard my brain shifted to the back of my skull,” says the former WBU Light Welterweight champ when prodded to reconfirm what he had just said. “It was in the third [Arturo] Gatti fight. It forced my eyes to go uneven and I was seeing double for the rest of the fight.”

Ward, a Lowell native, would go on to lose a decision in that fight, which would be the last of his eventful 18-year career. It was also the third and final battle between Ward and Gatti, a trilogy that has gone down in boxing lore as one of the best series of fights ever between two boxers. The first match-up between the two back in May of 2002 has been called one of the best fights of all-time by many boxing aficionados. It was also the lone fight of the three in which Ward prevailed.

Since his retirement, Ward, who still lives nearby the Acre section of Lowell that he grew up in, has been a busy man. In May he got married to his wife Charlene in Las Vegas. He’s worked as an analyst for ESPN boxing, he’s dabbled as a trainer for a couple local fighters and he’s been in negotiations to have a movie produced about his life and the role his brother, Dick Eklund, has played in it. He’s also tried to find time for more golf, a sport he picked up about the same time his boxing career began.

As Ward strolled through the Kernwood Country Club pro shop for our 18 questions interview wearing a royal blue and white Everlast warm-up suit, he looked like a boxer right out of central casting, even at the age of 40. He’s still fit, although he says he weighs in more than 20 pounds heavier than his 141-pound boxing weight. Battles scars are eminent across his face and hands. But his affection for the game of golf is clearly evident, as he admires Kernwood’s immaculate surroundings.

We began our session of 18 questions comparing the two sports. As Ward sees it, golf and boxing have a lot more in common with each other than you may think.

1. So let me get this straight, you see a lot of similarities between golf and boxing?
Oh yeah, definitely. Physically, they’re obviously much different. But mentally, they’re a lot alike. In both sports you really have to keep that positive mindset. If you make a bad putt or, in a fight, if you get caught with your hands down and take a punch, you can’t get down on yourself. In both sports if you lose your composure, you’re gone.

2. Has your mental toughness as a boxer helped your golf game?
Yeah, I think it has. I don’t let stuff bother me out there. I just tell myself to get ready for the next shot or the next hole.

3. What kind of player are you?
Not very good. (Laughs.) I usually shoot in the 90s. But sometimes I have a tough day and it’s tough to break 100. I’ve heard that the game can be relaxing when you shoot in the 70s. But when you play like I do, sometimes you just feel like breaking a club over your head. (Laughs.)

4. What attracted you to the game?
I like being outdoors. It’s quiet. I like to just go out there and have fun; try not to take it too seriously.

5. Do any of your lingering physical injuries from boxing hamper your golf game?
Actually in a strange way, a couple of them sort of help. After that punch that shifted my brain, I had surgery on my eyes about a year later to fix my double vision. My eyesight is fine now, except when I look up, things get a little blurry so that forces me to keep my head down when golfing. My hands also took a pretty good beating. They can hurt when it’s cold out. But it forces me to use a light grip, which is important.

6. Do you have any specific goals for your golf game?
I just want to try and keep improving. But it’s tough. I thought after I retired I would be able to play more. But that hasn’t happened. I’ve been busy with other stuff.

7. Let’s talk about your career. You went 38-13 with 27 KOs. Eighteen years is a long time to spend in the ring. What do you miss most about boxing?
To be honest, I miss the training. I don’t miss the pain of getting punched, or the pain of the morning after a fight, but I miss training and being in fight shape.

8. It must help that your staying involved with the sport as a trainer.
Oh yeah. I think I’ll be involved with the sport in some way for the rest of my life. I enjoy training, especially for my nephew Sean [Eklund].

9. How different is it training someone you’re related to rather than another fighter?
I’m blunt with all the guys I work with. If I see them taking too many punches and I don’t think they have it, I’ll tell’em to get out and go get themselves a good job. Don’t stick around like I did and take all that punishment. I finally made it in the very end, which was good because it set me up financially, but it was a struggle to get there.

10. In the year 2000 you won the WBU Light Welterweight title with an eighth round TKO over Shea Neary in London. What was it like to be a world champ?
It was a incredible feeling to win something that I worked my whole life for. It was a great sense of satisfaction to prove that I could do it. I think I surprised a lot of people.

11. Despite winning that title, you will be remembered most for your three fights with Arturo Gatti. What sticks out in your mind from those three fights?
I’ll always remember the first fight, punching Gatti as hard as I could, and just being amazed that he wouldn’t go down. In the third one, I remember coming out for the seventh round and seeing double. I was so drained. I had never felt like that in my entire career. I had nothing. I knew right then and there, it was the last fight of my career for sure. I knew I was no longer the fighter I once was and I didn’t want to risk any long term injuries.

12. Did you realize during the first fight that you were involved in what some people consider one of the best fights of all time?
During the fight, no. It was just such a war. It all really didn’t sink in until after I saw it on tape a couple times and heard the press and everyone call it the Fight of the Century. It’s amazing to think I was involved in something people really think was one of the best fights ever.

13. Despite those three bloody battles, you and Gatti have become good friends. How do you befriend someone who spent three nights of his life trying to take your head off?
(Laughs.) It’s definitely weird. You look at Ali-Frazier. They hated each other and they probably still do today. But me and Arturo have a totally different bond.

14. How did that happen?
I think we realized that we’re a lot alike. We come from different backgrounds, but as far as our will to win and our respect for boxing, we’re so much alike. We talk all the time. We’ve even gone out golfing a couple times.

15. A lot of people in the sport of boxing said that your first fight with Gatti helped revive the sport. Do you agree with that?
I think so. I think we proved that you can go out there and fight to win, and still respect your opponent. All sports have so much showboating today. It sends the wrong message to kids. Just go out there and do your job and try to win. Forget about all the other stuff.

16. Tell us about the movie that is being made about your life.
It’s about me and my brother, Dicky Eklund. He was a very good amateur fighter. He lost a 10 round decision to Sugar Ray Leonard in 1978. He was going places until he fell into drugs and alcohol and ended up in prison. While he was in jail, he cleaned himself up and vowed that when he got out he was going to train me and make me a champion. That’s what he did and that’s what the story is based on.

17. What’s the whole process been like?
It’s been fun. Paramount Pictures flew me and my brother out to Santa Monica to meet the producers. The script is still being written. And I heard they may get the Wahlberg brothers or Brad Pitt and Matt Damon to play me and my brother.

18. Not bad for a kid from Lowell.
(Laughs.) No, you’re right. It’s amazing. To be from a city like Lowell, to go on to win a world title and then have a movie made about me. But to be honest, I’m still the same kid I was growing up. All the attention and all that stuff, I don’t let it change who I am. I just try to take it all in stride.

As soon as the words come out of Micky Ward’s mouth, you can’t help but cringe.
You realize boxing is a barbaric sport. You saw all of the Rocky movies. You know that blood, bruises and internal injuries come with the territory. But a fighter having his brain “shifted” during a fight? That’s one you’ve never heard.
“Yeah, I got hit so hard my brain shifted to the back of my skull,” says the former WBU Light Welterweight champ when prodded to reconfirm what he had just said. “It was in the third [Arturo] Gatti fight. It forced my eyes to go uneven and I was seeing double for the rest of the fight.”
Ward, a Lowell native, would go on to lose a decision in that fight, which would be the last of his eventful 18-year career. It was also the third and final battle between Ward and Gatti, a trilogy that has gone down in boxing lore as one of the best series of fights ever between two boxers. The first match-up between the two back in May of 2002 has been called one of the best fights of all-time by many boxing aficionados. It was also the lone fight of the three in which Ward prevailed.
Since his retirement, Ward, who still lives nearby the Acre section of Lowell that he grew up in, has been a busy man. In May he got married to his wife Charlene in Las Vegas. He’s worked as an analyst for ESPN boxing, he’s dabbled as a trainer for a couple local fighters and he’s been in negotiations to have a movie produced about his life and the role his brother, Dick Eklund, has played in it. He’s also tried to find time for more golf, a sport he picked up about the same time his boxing career began.
As Ward strolled through the Kernwood Country Club pro shop for our 18 questions interview wearing a royal blue and white Everlast warm-up suit, he looked like a boxer right out of central casting, even at the age of 40. He’s still fit, although he says he weighs in more than 20 pounds heavier than his 141-pound boxing weight. Battles scars are eminent across his face and hands. But his affection for the game of golf is clearly evident, as he admires Kernwood’s immaculate surroundings.
We began our session of 18 questions comparing the two sports. As Ward sees it, golf and boxing have a lot more in common with each other than you may think.