Micky Ward to be honored!

03/03/2006

Micky Ward to be honored!

Fight standout "Irish" Micky Ward and Pat Lynch, manager of boxing champion Arturo Gatti,  forever connected through the memorable Ward-Gatti trilogy, will be joined by former football Giants great and present broadcaster Dick Lynch, FOX & FRIENDS anchor Brian Kilmeade, New York Post columnist Steve Dunleavy,  and Sean Finlay, publisher of the Irish Echo, when they each receive Distinguished Irish American Hero Awards from the Irish Arts Center at a benefit luncheon on Monday, March 13, at Gallagher's Steak House.

Tickets for the gala which will kick off St. Patrick's Day week are priced at $150 and are available by calling the 212-757-3318, ext. 203, ask for Bridin.  The luncheon will begin at 12 noon.

The benefit luncheon will also mark the formal announcement and details of "Fighting Irishmen: A Celebration of Celtic Warriors," an eclectic collection of boxing photography and artifacts exhibit slated for this fall at the Irish Arts Center, located at 553 West 51st Street.  The Irish Arts Center has promoted Irish culture since its inception in 1972.

Irish culinary fare will be one of the many highlights at the Irish Arts Center gala, and the menu will include: appetizers - Irish 'bangers' or potato and leak soup; main course - Sheppard's Pie, Corned Beef and Cabbage, or traditional Irish Salmon; dessert - Irish Bread Pudding, Vanilla Ice Cream with Baily's Irish Cream sauce.

Ward, the Lowell, Massachusetts, light welterweight, became internationally renowned for his epic trilogy against Arturo Gatti, and scored 38 wins with 27 KO's during his illustrious career; Pat Lynch is Gatti's longtime manager; Dick Lynch, the former Pro Bowl defensive back for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and the New York Football Giants, is now radio analyst on Giants broadcasts on WFAN Radio; author Dunleavy is a columnist for the New York Post;  Kilmeade is co-host for Fox News Channel's popular and irreverent FOX and Friends morning show, while also serving as FNC's sports reporter; Finlay is the longtime publisher of the Irish Echo, the oldest and most widely read Irish-American newspaper in the USA.