Book Review: Irish Thunder by Bob Holloran
Posted by Tommy Hackett on August 22nd, 2009
More than a month has passed since his death in Brazil, but sadly, we still don’t know what really happened to Arturo “Thunder” Gatti. It remains uncertain as of this writing if he died of suicide, as Brazilian authorities ruled, or if a full autopsy which has begun by Canadian officials will reveal he was murdered by his wife, as was first suspected.
What is clear is that he will be missed in many circles, one of which includes the opponent Gatti was most associated with, “Irish” Micky Ward. Last year, Ward was the subject of a book from longtime Boston sportscaster Bob Holloran, Irish Thunder. It offers a strong if not quite perfect portrait of its strong but never perfect subject, and particularly of the trilogy with Gatti which defined Ward’s career.
Irish Thunder begins at a bar in Ward’s native Lowell, MA, with the “down and out” patrons recalling better times, before journeying through Ward’s “down, but never quite out” career. Simply put, nothing comes easy here. Family? We meet Ward’s brother Dickie, a crack addict. One of his sisters coldcocks another at a Ward bout. His father briefly appears as a con man who scams elderly women from their retirement between stints in jail. The rest of his family offer little respite, although his mother is simply pictured as a poor manager.
Ward struggles his way through a good amatuer career, then into the pro’s. We encounter the unusual subtext of a professional career, as Ward revives his boxing career trying to give his brother something to live for. Obstacles pile up along the way, from gettting all but impaled on a construction site in one memorable scene, to the famous beatings which turned into melodramatic come-from-behind victories, against the likes of Shea Neary and Emmanuel Burton.
The descriptions of the fights are great, particularly the trilogy with Gatti and the classic bout with Burton. In both, Holloran liberally quotes the announcers’ play-by-play and running commentary. It’s all really well done, if at times a bit familiar to those of us who loved those bouts.
Irish Thunder offers plenty of interesting bits that even a big fan of Ward won’t know. But there are some missing pieces too, like why he goes by Micky at all if halfway through the book we learn his given name is George. There’s no story behind his brother & trainer Dickie having a different surname. (It’s not that uncommon, sure, but it would be nice to get it in the book.) Worst, in what alternate universe did Pernell Whittaker successfully defended his belt against Oscar de la Hoya, as is casually mentioned in Irish Thunder? (This is said to have occurred the night Ward fought Sanchez, whose name is misspelled, incidentally. Bad night for Holloran, I guess.) And speaking of spellings, why is Micky with no “e” anyway?
Ward’s life has become the subject of a movie which is currently filming. Never a great, but always good, Ward was always my favorite boxer — a man whose come-from-behind victories seemed almost superhuman, giving hope in a rough spell or two in my own life. Those moments were made more compelling because a very human man was performing them. I question how good this will be on celluloid where we see nothing but superheroes and every fight is turned into a “Rocky” story. But despite a stumble or two, Ward’s saga has made for a very good book which comes as an easy recommendation to any fight fan.