Throughout
his 18 year pro career, he always fought as a junior welterweight,
even at the end of his fantastic career, which was the epic Gatti-Ward
Trilogy.
Along the way to his dramatic showdowns with Gatti,
Ward defeated previously undefeated New Englander Louis Veader (twice).
He
followed with a sensational come-from-behind knockout of 16-0, Alfonso
Sanchez. It's a fight Micky Ward was badly losing on national television.
Also,
his electrifying eighth round stoppage of 22-0 Shea Neary for the
world boxing Union title in the U.K.
Multiple World title holder
Zab Judah credits Ward as the toughest opponent of his career, not
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Judah won a twelve round unanimous decision
for the interim USBA crown.
In popular culture
The story of Ward's
comeback and rise to fame was made into a 2010 feature film, The Fighter,
starring Mark Wahlberg (who was nominated for the Golden Globe for
Best Actor) as Ward. In 2011, Wahlberg confirmed to Spike TV that
The Fighter 2 is in the works, which will focus on the legendary fight
trilogy between Ward and Arturo Gatti.
Lowell hip hop artist
D-Tension released the song, "One Hit to the Body" which Micky used
as his ring entrance music for the May 18, 2002 Ward-Gatti bout.
Philadelphia
hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks released two remixes to their single,
Animal Rap from their third album Visions of Gandhi (2003), dubbed
the "Micky Ward Mix" and "Arturo Gatti Mix".
The album The Warrior's
code by Dropkick Murphys features Ward on the cover, and he is also
the subject of the title song. A live recording of the song is heard
in The Fighter.
The game Fight Night Round 3 (2006) features
Ward and Gatti on the cover (PS2 and Xbox versions only).