School of hard knocks

MARK Wahlberg, it seems, was destined to take on the role of junior welterweight ‘Irish’ Micky Ward in his critically lauded new film, The Fighter.

“I was selfishly wanting to play this part for a very long time and was friends with Micky for years and promised him I was going to get it done,” says the 39-year-old American actor, “and putting on that belt is a childhood fantasy.”

The former rapper recalls the moment he saw his first boxing movie. “When I came out of seeing Rocky as a kid, I think I ran all the way from the theatre,” he laughs, “imagining that kids were chasing me and the crowd’s getting bigger and bigger until I got to the museum. But Micky Ward’s story, that’s personal for me.”