Irish Thunder: The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward

by Bob Halloran

Overview

The story behind the Major Motion Picture The Fighter, starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, Irish Thunder is about a boxer from a boxing family and a boxing town, but it is not a boxing book. It is about the human spirit, blind loyalty, self-preservation and self-destruction. Micky’s dramatic victories inside the ring are recounted in detail, but it is his victory outside the ring that will leave the reader inspired.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762766840
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/19/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	633 KB

About the Author

Bob Halloran was a technical consultant on the major motion picture The Fighter, after having written Irish Thunder. He is a well-known and well-respected television journalist in Boston. He is currently the weekend news and sports anchor at the number one rated news station in the Boston market, WCVB-TV, Channel 5. Prior to that, he was an ESPN anchor and columnist for espn.com for three years. He has been working as a news and sports anchor in New England for over 20 years, having made extended stops on Cape Cod, Rhode Island, and a combined seven years in Boston. He is a weekly columnist for The Metro newspaper in Boston, and a frequent guest on 890 ESPN Radio in Boston.

Read an Excerpt

A dozen bellies cozied up to the bar. Shooters all around. Shots and beers for a small group of men, some of whom had just gotten off work, others who were on their way to work, and the rest who had no work at all. It was nine o’clock in the morning, and for those with nowhere else to go, drinking seemed like a good idea, and for those in no hurry to get where they were supposed to be, drinking also seemed like a good idea. It had been this way at the Highland Tap for the better part of three decades, and if it stayed that way for three more, that would suit these men just fine.
The Tap was their comfort zone. It was dark and it was quiet. The faces were as familiar as the conversations. It was a no frills bar, uncluttered with only the essentials, a handful of tables and enough wooden stools to surround a small, oval bar. The walls were adorned with pictures of fighters, boxers, local guys whose photos served to fill these patrons with a sense of parochial pride. If you grew up in Lowell, you were tough, because Lowell made you that way. There were times in Lowell’s history when it was a good place to raise a family. The rest of the time, it was a good place to raise a little hell. Most of the men who ventured into the Highland Tap had done both.

Recipe

“Irish” Micky Ward grew up in the 1970s and 80s as a tough kid from Lowell, Massachusetts—a town where boxers were once bred as a means of survival. A hard worker who overcame bad luck, bad management, and chronic pain in his hands, he avoided the pitfall of poverty and dead-end work that plagued Lowell to become a Golden Gloves junior welterweight.

 

Ward participated in street fights from an early age and was forever known by his opponents and spectators as the underdog. But with his incredible ability to suddenly drop an opponent late in a fight with his trademark left hook, he kept proving everyone wrong.

 

After fifteen years of boxing, a string of defeats, and three years of retirement, Micky battled Arturo Gatti in 2002 in the battle that was later named “Fight of the Year” by Ring magazine and dubbed “Fight of the Century” by boxing writers across the country. Ten rounds of brutal action ended with Micky winning by decision, and reviving enthusiasm for a sport that had been weighted down by years of showboating and corruption. ESPN and Boston television reporter Bob Halloran recounts Micky’s rise to hero status, his rivalry with his imprisoned brother, and the negotiations, betrayals, and drugs that ultimately shaped a wild youth into a nationally respected boxer.

Editorial Reviews

The themes in Micky’s. .. story of family, betrayal, brotherly love, tragedy, triumph, being an underdog, perseverance, and redemption, set against a boxing backdrop, resonate with nonboxing fans. Think ‘Rocky’ for the new millennium.” —Boston Globe “Bob Halloran does a remarkable job in describing the actual key bouts of Lowell’s champion boxer. You can almost feel the punches and intensity of the brutal sport."—The Sun (Lowell, MA) “[T]errific.. .. compellingly powerful.. .. Ward was a fighter who was hard to keep down. Irish Thunder is a book that is hard to put down."—thesweetscience.com

From the Publisher

Former ESPN anchor Bob Halloran recounts “Irish” Micky Ward’s rise to hero status as a boxer in this 2007 biography, which inspired the Academy Award-nominated film THE FIGHTER. Narrator Bronson Pinchot brings Micky and his family and friends to life with a rich tone and lets through just enough emotion during the fight scenes to express their intensity without losing the listener. Halloran covers Micky’s rivalry with his imprisoned brother, fight negotiations, and betrayals that helped shape him. One doesn’t need to be a boxing fan to enjoy this true story. Micky’s victories inside and outside the ring will leave the listener inspired. B.C.E. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2011 - AudioFile