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1991 looked a lot like the end of the line for “Irish” Micky Ward. He had lost four straight decisions, his half-brother and sometime trainer Dickie Ecklund was in state prison, and he had to take a job paving roads in his native Lowell, the hard luck capital of Massachusetts. But when Ward launched an improbable comeback three years later, he still had three things going for him: a granite chin, a puncher’s chance, and a fighter’s heart.

The chin allowed him to withstand inhuman amounts of punishment and wear down opponents in the late rounds. The punch was a paralyzing left hook to the body that led to stunning comebacks. But the heart was Ward’s greatest asset—big enough to let him swallow disappointment and defeat, wait patiently for his shot, and take full advantage of it. Ward participated in three “Fights of the Year” after the age of 35, winning two of them including his legendary 2002 defeat of Arturo “Thunder” Gatti. His performance in the epic Gatti trilogy firmly established Ward as one of the most exciting and courageous fighters of all time.

For the whole Ward story, we highly recommend Bob Halloran's excellent Biography Irish Thunder.