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Mickey Ward movie to be made

By
Declan O'Kelly and Meghan Sweeney,
IrishCentral.Com Staff Writers
Published Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 9:58 AM
Updated Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 12:10 PM

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"Irish" Micky Ward
Mickey Ward


A movie on the life of retired boxer "Irish" Mickey Ward  will be made later this year starring Irish American Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale.

"The Fighter" will tell the life story of light welterweight Mickey Ward and his half brother, Dicky Eukland, to be played by Wahlberg and Bale, respectively. David O.Russell, who worked with Wahlberg on "Three Kings" and "I Heart Huckabees," is slated to direct. It will be the first pair-up for Russell and "Dark Knight" star Bale.

Wahlberg has championed this movie for some time, but was met with much difficulty. He originally secured Matt Damon as Eukland and signed up "The Wrestler" director Darren Aronofsky. Then Damon dropped out, and Brad Pitt was cast in in his place. But production was stalled and Aronofsky left the project.

Now, with two new Hollywood heavyweights on board, Wahlberg has finally secured full financing from Relativity Media. The Boston-born actor continues to undergo intense training to get into shape for his role as Ward. Though the main men haven't signed on the dotted line yet, production is expected to start later this summer.

Ward grew up in a working class Irish family in Lowell, Massachussets in the '70s, and despite many setbacks in and out of the ring, ascended to the top of the game. 

Ward's older brother, Dicky Eukland, had a promising boxing career himself,  and even fought Sugar Ray Leonard before drug addiction and crime saw him end up in prison.

Eukland turned his life around while on the inside, and on his release, started to train Mickey, who had a so-so career up to that time.

Together they went on a run that included a trilogy of fights with Arturo Gatti that immortalized the two fighters in boxing history and started a good friendship between the warriors outside the ring.

Ward retired after his third fight with Gatti in June 2003 with a record of 38-13. The fighter, now a hero in his native Massachusetts, still lives in Lowell and trains up and coming boxers.

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See more: irish entertainment , ireland entertainment , irish movies , Sports , Boxing , Mickey Ward , christian bale , mark wahlberg
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