Richard "Dicky" Eklund is an American former professional boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 in the Welterweight

Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...

 division. A former New England Welterweight Champion, Eklund was known as "The Pride of Lowell

Lowell, Massachusetts

Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...

". He is the half-brother and former trainer of former WBU

World Boxing Union

The World Boxing Union is a boxing sanctioning body.Until recently it was fully recognised by the British Boxing Board of Control as a legitimate sanctioning body.WBU titles were particularly well recognised in Europe and Africa....

 World Champion Micky Ward

Micky Ward

Micky Ward , nicknamed Irish, is a retired American junior welterweight professional boxer and a former WBU champion from Lowell, Massachusetts...

. The 2010 biopic The Fighter is based on the two brothers' fall and rise to the boxing title.

Career

Eklund's most notable fight was on July 18, 1978, against Sugar Ray Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard is an American retired professional boxer and occasional actor. He was named Ray Charles Leonard, after his mother's favorite singer, Ray Charles...

 at the Hynes Memorial Auditorium in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. 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 down, which the referee classed as a trip rather than a knockdown. 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 10 losses.

After Eklund's fighting career ended, he became the trainer of his half-brother, noted former boxer Micky Ward

Micky Ward

Micky Ward , nicknamed Irish, is a retired American junior welterweight professional boxer and a former WBU champion from Lowell, Massachusetts...

. Eklund was Ward's full-time trainer for 26 fights, from Ward's professional debut in 1985 until his first retirement in 1991. Three of Ward's post-retirement fights were voted fight of the year

Ring Magazine fights of the year

The Ring was established in 1922 and since 1945, it has named a Fight of the Year.-1940s:*1945 - Rocky Graziano KO 10 Red Cochrane I*1946 - Tony Zale KO 6 Rocky Graziano I*1947 - Rocky Graziano KO 6 Tony Zale II...

 by The Ring

The Ring (magazine)

The Ring is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into question, The Ring shifted to becoming exclusively a boxing oriented publication...

. Eklund served as Ward's trainer until his second retirement, after his third fight with Arturo Gatti

Arturo Gatti

Arturo "Thunder" Gatti was a Canadian professional boxer. Born in Cassino, Italy, and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Gatti relocated to Jersey City, United States as a teenager...

 on June 7, 2003. Ward's biography, written by Bob Halloran

Bob Halloran

Bob Halloran is the Friday and Saturday nights news anchor and sports anchor for WCVB Channel 5, an ABC affiliate located in the Boston, Massachusetts media market....

 and titled Irish Thunder: The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward, discusses much of Eklund's life and career.

Eklund now works as a personal trainer and boxing coach in New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

. He also travels the United States with Micky Ward, giving motivational speeches to college students.

Personal life

In the 1980s, Eklund became addicted to crack cocaine

Crack cocaine

Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...

, effectively ending his fighting career in 1985. To support his habit, he turned to crime. Eklund was sentenced to 10-to-15 years in prison for breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, kidnapping, masked armed robbery, and several other crimes; he was paroled in 1999.

Eklund has two sons, Dicky Jr. and Tommy, and a daughter, Kerry.

In film

HBO's America Undercover

America Undercover

America Undercover is a television series of documentaries that airs on the cable television network HBO. Within the series are several sub-series, such as "Autopsy", "Real Sex" and "Taxicab Confessions". The series began in 1983 and, after a brief time being broadcast weekly in 2001, is now...

documented Eklund's life for a period of 18 months. The resulting 1995 documentary, High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell, followed Eklund and two other crack addicts in Lowell as their lives spiraled out of control. The documentary ends with Eklund being sentenced to prison.

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...

' 2010 drama The Fighter chronicles the rise of Eklund's younger half-brother Micky Ward. Directed by David O. Russell

David O. Russell

David Owen Russell is an American film director and screenwriter. He has been praised for the loose, comic energy that characterizes his work, and is notorious for his explosive confrontations with cast members.-Early life:...

, the film stars Christian Bale

Christian Bale

Christian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses....

 as Eklund and Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg

Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...

 as Ward. At the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Awards

17th Screen Actors Guild Awards

----Best Cast - Motion Picture: The King's Speech----Best Cast - Drama Series: Boardwalk Empire----Best Cast - Comedy Series: Modern Family...

, 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

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture

The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year....

 and an Academy Award

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

 for his performance.

Professional boxing record

|- style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;"
|align="center" colspan=8|19 Wins (4 knockouts), 10 Losses, 0 Draw
|- style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:95%;"
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res.
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd., Time
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location
|align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes
|-align=center
|Win || 19-10-0 ||align=left|  James Lucas
|UD || 10 (10) || May 30, 1985 || align=left| Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine

Portland, Maine

Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...

|align=left|
|-align=center
|Win || 18-10-0 ||align=left|  James Lucas
|UD || 12 (12) || October 15, 1983 || align=left| Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine

Portland, Maine

Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...

|align=left|Won the New England Welterweight

Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...

 Championship
|-align=center
|Loss || 17-10-0 ||align=left|  Reggie Miller
|UD || 10 (10) || September 23, 1983 || align=left| Lake Charles, Louisiana

Lake Charles, Louisiana

Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...

|align=left|Miller was undefeated (12-0) going in.
|-align=center
|Win || 17-9-0 ||align=left|  Terry Crawley
|UD || 10 (10) || August 11, 1983 || align=left| Yarmouth, Massachusetts

Yarmouth, Massachusetts

Yarmouth is a New England town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, Barnstable County being coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 24,807 at the 2000 census....

|align=left|
|-align=center
|Loss || 16-9-0 ||align=left|  Robert Sawyer
|UD || 12 (12) || September 16, 1982 || align=left| Sands Casino Hotel

Sands Atlantic City

The Sands Casino Hotel was a casino and hotel that operated from August 31, 1980 until November 11, 2006 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was formerly known as the Brighton Hotel & Casino. It consisted of a 21-story hotel tower with 532 rooms and a 5-story podium housing the casino and various...

, Atlantic City, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

|align=left|For the ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 Welterweight

Welterweight

Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...

 Championship
|-align=center
|Win || 16-8-0 ||align=left|  Jeff Passero
|UD || 8 (8) || July 31, 1982 || align=left| Ballys Place Hotel Casino

Bally's Atlantic City

Bally's Atlantic City is a luxury hotel and casino on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey that opened in 1979. It is one of the largest casinos on the boardwalk with nearly 2,000 rooms. Bally's is unique in that two of its four hotel towers are at least 80 years old. The Claridge Tower was...

, Atlantic City, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

|align=left|
|-align=center
|Win || 15-8-0 ||align=left|  Cesar Guzman
|UD || 8 (8) || July 14, 1982 || align=left| Dorchester, Massachusetts

Dorchester, Massachusetts

Dorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...

|align=left|
|-align=center
|Loss || 14-8-0 || align=left|  Kevin Howard
|UD || 10 (10) || January 7, 1982 || align=left| Sands Casino Hotel

Sands Atlantic City

The Sands Casino Hotel was a casino and hotel that operated from August 31, 1980 until November 11, 2006 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It was formerly known as the Brighton Hotel & Casino. It consisted of a 21-story hotel tower with 532 rooms and a 5-story podium housing the casino and various...

, Atlantic City, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

|align=left|
|-align=center
|Loss || 14-7-0 || align=left|  Chris Clarke

Chris Clarke (boxer)

Chris Clarke is a retired boxer from Canada, who won the gold medal in the men's lightweight division at the 1975 Pan American Games...

|SD || 10 (10) || October 27, 1981 || align=left| Halifax Metro Center, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

|align=left|
|-align=center
|Win || 14-6-0 ||align=left|  Allen Clarke
|KO || 9 (0:15) || August 25, 1981 || align=left| Halifax Metro Center, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

|align=left|
|-align=center
|Win || 13-6-0 || align=left|  C.J. Faison
|KO || 1 (2:58) || February 10, 1981 || align=left| Paul Sauvé Arena

Paul Sauvé Arena

The Paul Sauvé Arena was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, specifically in Rosemont. It had a capacity of 4,000. It was built in 1960 and demolished in 1996. The arena was named after Paul Sauvé , a Quebec Premier with the Union Nationale.The arena hosted some of the most important...

, Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

|align=left|
|-align=center
|Loss || 12-6-0 || align=left|  Fernando Fernandez
|SD || 10 (10) || June 20, 1980 || align=left| Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

|align=left|
|-align=center
|Loss || 12-5-0 ||align=left|  Dave Boy Green

Dave Boy Green

Dave "Boy" Green is a former British welterweight boxing champion and businessman. Born in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, a small fenland town, he boxed as the "Fen Tiger".-Early years:...

|UD || 10 (10) || December 4, 1979 || align=left| Empire Pool, Wembley

Wembley

Wembley is an area of northwest London, England, and part of the London Borough of Brent. It is home to the famous Wembley Stadium and Wembley Arena...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

|align=left|Green was (32-2) going in.
|-align=center
|Win || 12-4-0 || align=left|  Fernando Fernandez
|UD || 10 (10) || August 18, 1979 || align=left| Lowell, Massachusetts

Lowell, Massachusetts

Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...

|align=left|
|-align=center
|loss || 11-4-0 || align=left|  Sugar Ray Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard is an American retired professional boxer and occasional actor. He was named Ray Charles Leonard, after his mother's favorite singer, Ray Charles...

|UD || 10 (10) || July 18, 1978 || align=left| Hynes Auditorium

Hynes Convention Center

The John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center located in Boston was built in 1988 from a design by architects Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood. It replaced a previous building, also a convention center, regarded as "ungainly." The 1988 design "attempted to relate in scale and materials to its...

, Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

|align=left|Leonard was undefeated (12-0) going in.
|-align=center

External links

• Dicky Eklund official web site