The Cult of Micky Ward in Massachusetts

This chapter focuses on the cult of Micky Ward, the boxer from Lowell, Massachusetts, whose story is told in the 2010 film The Fighter. The cult of Micky Ward, rooted in the Boston area, is one of many local or regional cults that spring up around a sports figure understood to embody virtues especially tied to a place. Thanks in large part to The Fighter, however, this particular cult has gone global. The chapter first provides an overview of Ward's boxing career before discussing The Fighter, which stars Mark Wahlberg. Offering a rich, historically inflected reading of Ward and The Fighter, the chapter traces “large-scale flows of resources, power, people, and meanings.” It explains: “To talk about Micky Ward is to talk not only about some really stirring ass whippings, but also about major historical transformations that extend far beyond eastern Massachusetts.” Among them are “tribal pride,” industrial urbanism, and a particular kind of manhood.