Richard Eklund Jr. (born May 3, 1957) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1975 to 1985. Known as "The Pride of Lowell," he held the USA New England welterweight title twice between 1979 and 1983. He is the half-brother and former trainer of former WBU champion Micky Ward. The 2010 biopic The Fighter is based on the two brothers' life.
Boxing career
Eklund grew up in Lowell with seven sisters and his half-brother Micky. He started boxing at the age of 12 in the streets of Lowell. He then began to fight older adults nearly twice his age.
Eklund had an amateur boxing career of 200 bouts, winning 194, including 2 New England Golden Glove championships. Eklund turned professional on August 26, 1975. After losing his debut by 6-round decision to Joe DeFayette, Eklund won 10 straight fights, defeating such opponents as Doug Romano, Terry Rondeau, Carlos Garcia, Randy Milton, and Mike Michaud.Ring Record Book, 1983, page 112)
He fought professionally as Dick Eklund; "Dicky" was a nickname used by his family and friends. Before his 1978 match with future world boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard, Eklund's most impressive victory was over undefeated Rufus Miller (6–0–1) in 1976.
Eklund's most notable fight was on July 18, 1978, against Sugar Ray Leonard at the Hynes Memorial Auditorium in Boston, Massachusetts. He went the distance against Leonard, who eventually won the fight by unanimous decision. During the fight, Eklund was knocked down twice. In the ninth round, the fighters got wrapped up and Leonard fell, which was counted as a slip by the referee Tommy Rawson. However, footage shows a punch being landed on Leonard as he fell. In the film The Fighter, Eklund claims to have knocked down Leonard in their match, though the film acknowledges the slip. In an interview regarding the knockdown, Leonard said, "I slipped."
After his bout with Leonard, he then fought Fernando Fernandez for the vacant USA New England welterweight title. The bout took place in his hometown of Lowell, with Eklund winning the title by defeating Fernandez on . In his next 8 fights, Eklund went on alternating win/loss streaks, losing the first two, winning the next two, losing the next two, and winning the last two. He then fought Robert Sawyer for the ESPN welterweight title but lost via unanimous decision, then splitting his next two fights.
Eklund's fastest victory was a first-round knockout over C.J. Faison in Montreal, Canada on February 10, 1981. Eklund knocked out Canada's Allan Clarke in 9 rounds on August 25, 1981. Clarke's record was listed by the Ring as 21–4–1.Ring Record Book, 1983, page 112 On October 25, 1983, Eklund defeated James Lucas to win the USA New England Welterweight Title for a second time. Following a rematch victory over Lucas in 1985, Eklund never fought again.
Eklund's fighting career spanned 10 years from 1975 to 1985, during which he compiled a professional career record of 19 wins, including four by knockout, and ten losses. During his career, Dicky's fame got him in trouble with drugs, specifically crack cocaine, which caused his boxing career to slowly decline and eventually result in his being arrested and sentenced to prison for 10–15 years.
Life after boxing After Eklund's fighting career ended, he became the trainer of his half-brother, noted former boxer Micky Ward who has credited Eklund as an inspiration for starting his career. Eklund was Ward's full-time trainer for 26 fights, from Ward's professional debut in 1985 until his first retirement in 1991. After Eklund was released from prison in the mid 90s, he helped convince Ward to come out of retirement and began to train him again. Three of Ward's post-retirement fights were voted fight of the year by The Ring, and he captured the WBU title in 2000. Eklund served as Ward's trainer until his second retirement, after his third fight with Arturo Gatti on June 7, 2003. Ward's biography, written by Bob Halloran and titled Irish Thunder: The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward, discusses much of Eklund's life and career. Eklund alongside Ward would also help train their nephew Sean Eklund, who also went on to become a professional boxer.
On April 1, 2011 Eklund along with Ward were special guest on the Scott Van Pelt Show talking about their careers. That same night they also made a special appearance's on ESPN's Friday Night Fights as special guests giving a live studio analysis as well as a special interview.
Eklund now works as a personal trainer and boxing coach in New England, helping train boxers at Ward's boxing gym in Westford. He would also travel the United States with Micky Ward, giving motivational speeches to college students. The two would even do a three-day tour of the UK in 2012, telling their stories with all the proceeds going to charity.
Personal life Paramount Pictures' 2010 drama The Fighter chronicles the rise of Eklund's younger half-brother Micky Ward. Directed by David O. Russell, the film stars Christian Bale as Eklund and Mark Wahlberg as Ward. The movie received critical acclaim. At the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Eklund made a surprise appearance on stage with Christian Bale as the latter accepted the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Eklund. Bale also won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for his performance. During his Academy Award acceptance speech, he thanked Eklund and Ward, who were in the audience. Eklund and Bale have remained in contact.
Eklund was also featured on the HBO documentary High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell which showed his fall from boxing grace because of his addiction to crack cocaine. In the documentary, Eklund was sentenced to a long prison term for crimes he committed to feed his crack addiction. Eklund has reportedly been arrested 66 times but has since cleaned up as he has gotten older. He still resides in Lowell.
Eklund was named to Irish America's top 100 in 2011 alongside his brother Micky. The two would serve as Grand Marshals at that year's international boxing hall of fame parade.
Eklund's children include two sons — Dicky Jr and Tommy — and daughter Kerry. Dicky Jr. is a former actor-turned-boxing trainer in California.
Acting career Eklund made his acting debut in the 2014 independent Massachusetts mafia film Portico, where he plays himself.
Professional boxing record
Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes29Win 19–10 James Lucas 10 May 30, 1985 28Win 18–10 James Lucas 12 October 25, 1983 27 Loss 17–10 Reggie Miller 10 September 22, 198326Win 17–9 Terry Crawley 10 August 11, 1983 25Loss 16–9 Robert Sawyer 12 September 16, 1982 24Win 16–8 Jeff Passero 8 July 31, 1982 23Win 15–8 Cesar Guzman 8 July 14, 1982 22Loss 14–8 Kevin Howard 10 January 7, 1982 21Loss 14–7 Chris Clarke 10 October 27, 198120Win 14–6 Allen Clarke 9 (10) August 25, 198119Win 13–6 C.J. Faison 1 (8), February 10, 1981 18Loss 12–6 Fernando Fernandez 10 June 20, 1980 17Loss 12–5 Dave Boy Green 10 December 4, 197916Win 12–4 Fernando Fernandez 10 August 18, 1979 15Loss 11–4 Sugar Ray Leonard 10 July 18, 1978 14Loss 11–3 Willie Rodriguez 8 March 4, 1978 13Win 11–2 Al Cruz 5 (6), January 16, 197812Loss 10–2 Erkki Meronen 6 February 24, 1977 11Win 10–1 Rufus Miller 8 October 30, 1976 10Win 9–1 Mike Michaud 8 September 20, 1976 9Win 8–1 Randy Milton 6 June 24, 1976 8Win 7–1 Jose Carlos Garcia 6 April 26, 1976 7Win 6–1 Charlie Benjamin 6 February 21, 1976 6Win 5–1 Terry Rondeau 6 January 31, 1976 5Win 4–1 Jose Papo Melendez 4 December 20, 1975 4Win 3–1 Avelino Dos Reis 3 (6) November 21, 1975 3Win 2–1 Eddie Hudson 4 November 6, 1975 2Win 1–1 Doug Romano 4 September 30, 1975 1Loss 0–1 Joe DeFayette 6 August 26, 1975
See also Notable boxing families
References
External links