Bob Halloran: “Irish Thunder” The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward-

In its own way boxing is like Hollywood, they have their character actors, B list celebrities and box office superstars, while we have our journeyman, top contenders and pound for pound greats. Each fighter has a story written and waiting to be told on screen with one of these Hollywood celebrities playing their part, but unlike Hollywood in boxing there no producers or directors to mold the fighters story and no prescreening to project how well a fighter will do in their career. In boxing your story is sold in the ring and if it sold well enough there Hollywood may someday sell it to the world. Sadly unlike Hollywood in boxing there is rarely the opportunity to recover from a box office bomb.

Seldom does a fighter even those who win world titles and spend their careers in the spotlight manage to endure themselves to fans not only professionally but personally to the point anyone wants to take the time to find out about them after the final bell rings. It takes not only a special kind of fighter but individual in general to garner such admiration. Micky Ward is one of those men.

“Irish” Micky Ward is a man who needs no real introduction to fight fans, he built a reputation as a tough stand up and brawl type fighter with a gentleman demeanor. Born in Lowell Massachusetts Micky was no stranger to fistic engagement, long before ever stepping into a boxing ring he had fought in the neighborhood streets along side his brothers and sisters against the fellow neighborhood toughs. Yet somewhere during that time Micky decided after watching his elder siblings have run in’s with the law he would use his aggression to further himself rather then have it used against him. Micky Ward became a boxer and while he was not the first in his family to do so he is certainly the most known.

Ward while never winning a major world title earned his respect the hard way by going all out from bell to bell never taking a step backwards in 51 bouts. The closest he ever came to being knocked out was a TKO stoppage due to cuts against then IBF light welterweight champion Vince Phillips in 1997 and was one part of what many consider in the top five of all time trilogies with Arturo Gatti (their fight was Ring Magazines 2003 fight of the year). Micky Ward’s biggest accomplishment though may be the fact was respected by both fans and foe’s alike, being one of the few fighters you will never hear a bad word about be it in the ring or out.

To show exactly how much Micky Ward had an impression on his fans and the sport in general there will soon be a movie about his life entitled “The Fighter” starring Matt Damon and Mark Walhberg, based on the career of Micky in the ring and his relationship with half brother and trainer Dicky Ecklund outside of it.

Recently released was a book entitled “Irish Thunder” The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward which came out in November of this year. It was written by Bob Halloran a sports Anchor for WCVB TV 5 news in Boston Mass. If Halloran’s name sounds familiar to those outside the Boston area it may be because he is a former anchor for ESPNews and writer for ESPN.com. Today I was lucky enough to catch up with Bob and catch a few minutes of his time to discuss his newest venture and ask how it came about, why he chose Micky Ward of all fighters to write a book about and get a few insights on what to expect when reading it.

Saddo Boxing: Bob thanks for a minute of your time. Are you from the New England area?

Bob Halloran: No actually I am from New Jersey, I worked on TV in the Cape Cod area then Providence Rhode Island. After that I was with ESPN for about 3 years and now I work for Channel 5 in Boston one of ABC’s affiliates.

SB: Have you written any books before this or is this you’re first?

BH: No this is my first I have always wanted to but it’s like climbing a mountain. It was pretty hard.

SB: Have you always been a big boxing fan or just a fan of Micky’s?

BH: I was always a fan but not an addict, as a kid I would watch it on the Wide World of Sports. I enjoyed the older fights. As I got older I did not really follow it too much on TV. I didn’t really watch Tuesday Night Fights or anything like that on a regular basis, only the big fights and PPV event’s.

It was actually the Micky Ward Vs Arturo Gatti fights that got going back into the sport. It had that Friday Night Lights passion of high school football in Texas. Only New England could bring that back.

SB: How did Mick Ward become the topic of your book? Was it because he is from New England?

BC: I had wanted to write a book on the sport and was talking with people before I got started getting ideas. Then one day Micky Ward just popped into my mind. I went over to my computer and Googled his name to see what I could find out about him other then his fights. There was a lot of interesting stuff about him that helped me make my decision.

There were things about Richie Farrell being shot, his brother and trainer Dick Eckerlund and the fact he had spent time in jail, the HBO special High on Crack Street that showed Dick being filmed smoking crack and at his worst, his sister getting into trouble going to jail. There was a story I had heard about Micky getting his hands broken outside a bar by a cop that still to this day many people believe was because of who his brothers and sisters were. I mean here we had a guy growing up surrounded by friends and family going to jail or dieing and he managed to stay on the straight and narrow.

SB: Was Mick involved in helping with the book?

BH: We met a few times sat down and talked for hours, he would tell me stories about his life outside of the ring and things that took place in the ring from his point of view. Like in the third Gatti fight where during the fight he started to see double, except he did not see double as in two Gatti’s next to each other but one right on top of the other. He said then and there he knew that would be his last fight. There were about 3 rounds left in the fight but it never dawned on him to call it quits he just wanted to finish the fight. It was an on going problem that lasted for about a year before it was corrected surgically.

So in August of 2005 I spent time meeting with Micky then Bob Trieger had given me a list of names to talk to and get more insight. I spent between October of 2005 and January of 2006 talking with people who knew Micky and helped me get more stories to add to the book.

SB: I was looking online and seen it’s a fairly long book 297 pages. Do you have a lot of photos in it?

BH: There isn’t any pictures in it. I provided about a dozen or so to the publisher but they did not include them. The book was actually longer then that but after editing that’s what ended up in the book 297 pages. I tried to make the book enjoyable for everyone. After the book was completed I sent it out to every publisher there is. I was rejected by about 19 of them before the 20th letter came back and said they were interested.

The first half of the book is more about Micky’s life and childhood itself the second half is more for boxing fans. I watched all of Micky’s fights and was able to get them with the corners talking in between rounds. I included some of the stuff that was said during the fights and made sure it was verbatim. Some of the stuff they say in the corner is great and really adds a lot of drama to the book.

SB: Bob I really want to thank you for your time today it is greatly appreciated. I hope the book does well Micky is a guy that has a story worth reading.

BH: Thank you and Like Jim Lampley said “It is the greatest 13 loss career ever”.

Bob Halloran can be seen nightly on WCVB TV 5 news in Boston Mass and his book
“Irish Thunder” The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward can be purchased at any major bookstore or Click Here to Order Online