Ward closing out boxing career in trilogy finale against Gatti June 7
08.04 - LOWELL, Mass. – The illustrious 18-year pro boxing career of “Irish” Micky Ward will officially come to a dramatic conclusion June 7 when he fights archrival Arturo “Thunder” Gatti in Gatti-Ward III live on HBO in Atlantic City.
The two warriors have split a pair of memorable “throwback” type of fights, Ward winning a 10-round decision last May in the consensus “2002 Fight of the Year,” Gatti taking a 10-round decision this past November. Their third and final showdown has been greatly anticipated by boxing fans all over the world.
“I’ve given my life to boxing and after this fight I’m done,” an ecstatic Ward said soon after learning that the deal had been finalized. “This is the only fight I wanted. I know I lost the second fight. He caught me and beat me fair and square, but I felt I deserved a third fight, the rubber match. I wanted this fight to redeem myself and then walk away from boxing.
“I want to thank (promoter) Lou DiBella and (manager) Sal LoNano for working so hard to make this happen for me. I’m very happy. I want to thank Arturo Gatti and Main Events, too. Arturo’s a great guy and fighter. I already started working out and I’m focusing 100-percent on this fight.”
LoNano has been planning Ward’s retirement party, but he always felt it wouldn’t be held until sometime after June 7. “I knew Lou DiBella would get it done,” Sal added. “We all worked hard on this. Main Events and Arturo Gatti showed Micky the respect he deserves.”
Ward has a 38-13 (27 KOs) record and his brother, Dickie Eklund, trains him. Gatti sports a 35-6 (28 KOs) record and is trained by Buddy McGirt. Ward and Gatti are scheduled to receive “The Harry Markson Award” for “Fight of the Year” at the 78th annual Boxing Writers Association of America’s 78th annual awards dinner April 25 in New York City.
