Mikey Ward and Arturo Gatti - What Real Fighters Are Like

There are fights, and there are THE FIGHTERS... However, what the movie, about Boston-based boxer Mickey Ward, with Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg, leaves out is the actual "fight" story, and it is an even better one (albeit the personal struggle of Ward is very powerful). Ward got the chance to fight Arturo Gatti, the title holder. And the fight(s) that ensued are what fight stories should be made of... They fought three knockout, drag down and brutal fights. In the ring, they were animals. After their second fight, Gatti busted Ward's eardrum after a hook that sent Ward spinning for the rest of the bout. Ward hit Gatti so hard that a cyst formed underneath his rip cage. Blood would cover the mat as they danced around to uncover fight strategies. And you would think, after all of this they would be enemies, but not so...

This is the real story... They were great friends off the ring too! They cared for each other. Does this happen often with fighters, in many cases yes. You develop a bond that is very close, but when the business goes to the mat, boardroom-like seriousness comes into play. It isn't so much that friendship is lost, but the business of fighting needs to get done. We all have our competitors, but should we look at them as enemies on and off the field of combat? These two certainly didn't...