Ward closing out boxing career in
trilogy finale against Gatti
June 7 in Atlantic City
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.
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