A major Hollywood movie is coming out in December called "The Fighter" based on the life of Mickey Ward and his trainer, half-brother Dick Ecklund. Mark Wahlberg plays Ward, while Christian Bale portrays Ecklund. While Ward was an exciting fighter, and his three fights with Arturo Gatti were all action, the movie commercials are kind of misleading when they call him a "world champiion." Did he actually ever hold any world title? He always seemed like a good guy personality wise, but both he and Gatti were over-hyped because of crowd pleasing styles. I think hardcore fans know Ward was not a great fighter, really was objectively barely a top 10 contender at his best. But, he was very marketable because of style, and let's face it, skin color. I'm white, but I know it is a marketing advantage whenever a white guy can fight, even just a little bit.
I think he won some obscure belt like WBF or something. He was a contender at his best, nothing more. Nice, exciting fighter who had a big following amongst the Irish Americans, like Gatti had with the Italian Americans. This had not much to do with beeing white but with beeing irish or italian. And it´s a good story, I´d prefer other bios to get filmed but well, won´t happen I think. I´m waiting for a Barney Ross movie since I first heard of him.
Just goes to show you whats important to mainstream fans when it comes to boxing. Thats a big part of the sport. They wont make a movie about Sugar Ray Leonard but they will Mickey Ward. Ward was a tough blue collar fighter, the kind of guy that filled the boxing gyms in the evenings. Guys would work their butts off all day and then train at night. That kind of stuff makes you tougher if you pursue a pro career. Anyone who fight Ward will remember him, because he presented a long tough night.
I don't think a Leonard movie would generally be entertaining and tell much of an interesting story. A Duran movie would probably see everyone thinking he was a C*nt. A floyd Mayweather movie would just be him walking round his house saying 'look at what I've got' Now a a Johnny Tapia movie would be good, Jack Johnson has a movie but a contempary version would be appreciated, a Charles Burley movie might be good - I'd like to see a boxing movie where they actually talk about boxing techniques in the gym instead of Rockyesque BS. Show the dislikable sides of the boxer and actually show what he didn't do that well instead of embellishing his every achievement
Thats kind of the point, Leonard achieved a lot more in boxing, but Ward's story is more interesting. I think he was a road paver by day and trained at night.
Here you go.......the imdb page for "****** On My Back" from 1957..... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050719/
