Biography for
Young Dickie Eklund (Character)
from The Fighter (2010/I)

Richard "Dicky" Eklund (born May 9, 1957) is a former professional boxer in the Welterweight division and is a former New England Welterweight Champion.[1] He is known as "The Pride of Lowell". Eklund is also the brother of former WBU World Champion Micky Ward.[2] The 2010 biopic The Fighter is based on the two brothers' fall and rise to the boxing title.

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 down, but the referee indicated this was a trip and not a knockdown. Eklund's fighting career spanned 10 years from 19751985, during which he compiled a professional career record of 19 wins, including four by knockout, and 10 losses.

Eklund is the half-brother of the noted boxer Micky Ward. After Eklund's fighting career ended, he became 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 by Ring Magazine. Eklund served as Ward's trainer until his retirement after his third fight with Arturo Gatti on June 7, 2003.

Source: Wikipedia