February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Jay Mwamba
Lowell, Mass., slugger "Irish" Micky Ward faces a crossroads fight in Hampton Beach, N.H., this Friday night when he meets the durable Emmanuel Burton over 10 rounds.
The non-title junior welterweight contest will mark Ward’s record 26th appearance on the ESPN cable network. But it’s also a crunch match that could either lead to couple of big paydays, including a shot at the world title, or signal the end of Ward’s storied career as a contender.
Ward, who is 35, is in line for a clash with fellow New Englander Ray Oliveira. The winner is likely to get a crack at the unified world junior welterweight championship after Zab Judah, who holds a win over the Irish American, and Kostya Tszyu meet in November.
A former holder of the fringe World Boxing Union 140-pound belt, Ward is coming off a first round TKO win over Steve Quinonez last May, his first fight in nine months following a points loss to Antonio Diaz last year.
The Diaz fight was a brutal affair, and the Lowell, Mass., resident expects his scheduled ten rounds with Burton to be just as grueling and intense.
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"I expect another war [and] that’s all I need," said Ward, a punishing body puncher who fights best at close quarters.
"They had three possible guys for me. One was a left-hander and I hate them. The other was tall and a runner, and that’s a bad style for me. So I took Burton.
"Burton has a walk-in style. I won’t back up and he won’t back up. That’s OK with me. I’d rather have a banger in there than a runner. I don’t care about getting banged up. As long as I’m in shape I can handle that."
Ward said winning on Friday night and then beating Oliveira and getting a title shot were his only goals in boxing.
" I only want two or three more fights," he said. "I’ve been doing this since I was
7. I want to make some money and then go to work like a regular guy.
"I don’t want to end up punch drunk or looking like some guy who had 1,000 fights. What do you have then? Boxing is a strict life. To do it right, you lose your life."
Ranked 11th by the International Boxing Federation, Ward will go into Friday night’s bout with a 36-10 (27 KOs) record.