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Irish Thunder: The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward
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Product Description
Now in paperback!
The true story of a boxer’s unlikely road to becoming a world champion
“Irish” Micky Ward was always the underdog—one able to stage a stunning comeback late in a fight. After a fifteen-year pro career followed by a string of defeats and three years of retirement, the Lowell, Massachusetts, native defeated Arturo Gatti in 2002, capturing the world light welterweight title. The grueling battle—named “Fight of the Year” by Ring magazine and “Fight of the Century” by boxing fans around America—was broadcast live on HBO, made Ward famous, and launched two legendary rematches.
In Irish Thunder, Bob Halloran recounts Ward’s rise to hero status, his rivalry with his imprisoned brother, and the negotiations, betrayals, and drugs that shaped a wild youth who ultimately became a nationally respected boxer. This is a story about a boxer from a boxing family and a boxing town—and it is a wrenching account of life in blue-collar America. Ward’s dramatic victories inside the ring are recounted in gripping detail, but it is his victory outside the ring that inspires.
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Author Bob Halloran is a consultant on a major motion picture due in 2010, The Fighter, that tells the Micky Ward story and stars Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #285329 in Books
- Published on: 2007-11-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 296 pages
Features
- ISBN13: 9781599212203
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
- Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices
Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
“Irish” Micky Ward grew up in the 1970s and 80s as a tough kid from Lowell, Massachusetts—a town where boxers were once bred as a means of survival. A hard worker who overcame bad luck, bad management, and chronic pain in his hands, he avoided the pitfall of poverty and dead-end work that plagued Lowell to become a Golden Gloves junior welterweight.
Ward participated in street fights from an early age and was forever known by his opponents and spectators as the underdog. But with his incredible ability to suddenly drop an opponent late in a fight with his trademark left hook, he kept proving everyone wrong.
After fifteen years of boxing, a string of defeats, and three years of retirement, Micky battled Arturo Gatti in 2002 in the battle that was later named “Fight of the Year” by Ring magazine and dubbed “Fight of the Century” by boxing writers across the country. Ten rounds of brutal action ended with Micky winning by decision, and reviving enthusiasm for a sport that had been weighted down by years of showboating and corruption. ESPN and Boston television reporter Bob Halloran recounts Micky’s rise to hero status, his rivalry with his imprisoned brother, and the negotiations, betrayals, and drugs that ultimately shaped a wild youth into a nationally respected boxer.
From the Back Cover
Welcome to Lowell, where anything can happen.
Rocky Marciano fought at the Auditorium in 1947. Mike Tyson fought there in his Golden Glove days. Sugar Ray Leonard won there, so did Marvin Hagler. Each of them prepared for his battle downstairs in the boiler room, just like thousands of other kids whose greatest feeling in life would forever remain the night they landed a few good shots on the chin of some other twelve-, thirteen-, or fourteen-year-old.
Fighters got dressed next to other fighters in the brightly lit makeup rooms for the theater productions. They had their hands taped and their gloves tied under the glow of several domed lights that outlined the large mirrors. Warm-ups, shadowboxing, meditation, and stretching were all done wherever a fighter could find the space. But there wasn’t any space. Each of the dozens of fighters brought a manager, a trainer, a family member, or all three. The bathrooms, makeup areas, and hallways filled up rather quickly.
In their amateur days, their matches on any given night were made when organizers put numbered pills into a bottle and picked out two pills at a time. If a fighter was number seven, he learned at six o’clock that he was fighting number five at seven o’clock. “Good luck, kid. You’re on in an hour.”
About the Author
Bob Halloran is a well-known and well-respected television journalist in Boston. He is currently the weekend news and sports anchor at the number one rated news station in the Boston market, WCVB-TV, Channel 5. Prior to that, he gained a degree of national recognition as an ESPN anchor and columnist for espn.com for three years. He has been working as a news and sports anchor in New England for over 20 years, having made extended stops on Cape Cod, Rhode Island, and a combined seven years in Boston.
Customer Reviews
A real fast moving book just like Micky Ward himself!
Bob Halloran has captured the essence of a rags to riches boxer. You don't need to be a fan of boxing though to enjoy this fast paced story. It has all the makings of chasing the American dream by a young man who has been down but not out. I think anyone who wants to read a feel good story will enjoy Bob Halloran's tale. He keeps you hanging on every jab Mickey gives and takes throughout his life.
An excellent biography
Irish Thunder: The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward is a great biography of the blue collar boxer from Lowell, MA. Bob Halloran does an excellent job chronicling Micky's career and the trials and tribulations he faced to get there. Right from the beginning, Bob illustrates the vision of Lowell, a once proud boxing town that had become a haven for decadence and despair. Although Micky would fall not victim to the drugs that had claimed many before him, the obstacles presented to him were constant whether it was injured hands, his family, bad management, big fights falling through, or his own self confidence. The fact that Micky persevered to become a popular and well respected boxer personifies his character. Halloran gives you a rundown of his fights throughout the book and his vivid recollections of Micky's wars with Arturo Gatti, Emanuel Burton, Reggie Green, and others make you feel like you're watching the fight as it happens. However, what really keeps the reader glued to this book is the behind the scenes drama. And as it often goes with money, the more there is to be made, the more drama comes with it. Most of the fight facts and recaps are accurate with the only obvious mistake being that Pernell Whitaker won a decision over Oscar De La Hoya, when in fact it was the other way around. All told, this is a well written biography and I would recommend this to any boxing fan.
Lowell's Pride
Other than Jack Kerouac and a few other Lowell greats I'm probably missing, Micky Ward is Lowell's pride. The book is an excellent read only because Micky's life-story is so remarkable and inspiring, other than that Bob Halloran's writing style is bleak.
Micky Ward grew up when Lowell was tougher than it is today--UMass Lowell has brought so much money into the city it's been on the up-and-up since 1992--where his half-brother/trainer is a crack addict, his dad did hard time for defrauding old ladies in his roofing business and yet Micky even steered clear of marijuana while staying on his sworn path of becoming a champion boxer. Throughout his boxing career, he maintained a modest career paving roads for the city of Lowell and to my knowledge is still doing it to this day, he's only 42.
Micky Ward is an honest man and a working class hero, and that's why so many people love him--"The Warrior's Code" the album by the Dropkick Murphys is about Micky Ward and "The Fighter" is a movie about him starring Mark Wahlberg and Brad Pitt to be released in 2009.
This book is highly recommended, and will hopefully inspire you to hit the gym and work as hard as Micky did.
