by Dan McCaffery for the Sarnia Observer
(2003) He was the most famous – and tragic – sports hero of Sarnia’s early history.
Mike Ward, whom reporters had dubbed “The Sarnia Wonder,” was the city’s first internationally known athlete. In fact, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say the young boxer was as celebrated in his time as golfer Mike Weir is today. And when he was killed in a 1906 prizefight, The Observer was so alarmed it called for a ban on boxing.
Ward toured Ontario as an amateur before turning professional in 1900 at the tender age of 16. Over the next six years he put the city on the map by winning the Canadian lightweight championship. He travelled far and wide to take on all comers and was in San Francisco when the earthquake struck in April 1906. When The Observer reported he was safe and sound, there was widespread relief.
Fed up with all the travel, Ward retired with a record of 23 wins, five draws and just three losses. He briefly considered a career as a lawyer, then went to Toronto to manage a hotel. Sadly, he was lured back into the ring with the promise that if he defeated well-known Philadelphia fighter Harry Lewis, he’d be given a crack at the world welterweight title.
The fight, staged in Grand Rapids, Michigan would become one of the most controversial matches ever fought. Ward was hit in the jaw in the ninth round and dropped like a log. Shortly afterward, he was pronounced dead and Lewis was charged with murder. In Sarnia, there was grief and anger. The Observer said the 22-year-old Ward was “as good a fellow who ever walked.” News of his death was “received with shock, surprise, and universal regret.”
The paper added Ward’s death could lead to a ban on boxing. “There is nothing to commend it as a competitive sport for public exhibition, and if it should be strictly prohibited in any and every guise, the public would lose nothing by its abolition.”
Fans were highly critical of Lewis. “Spectators thought Lewis should not have delivered the final blow,” The Observer reported. “Ward was staggering blindly about, having just taken the count of nine and there was a general opinion that to give him such a hook as Lewis sent home was not necessary.”
Much to the chagrin of many Sarnians, the murder charges against Lewis were dropped. However, accounts of an inquiry into the fight published in The Observer suggest Lewis was indeed innocent. The paper quoted referee Edward Ryan as saying Ward came up strong after absorbing the blow that put him down the first time. “I stepped between the men to make sure that Ward was not injured. I looked at his eyes and found that they were normal. His bearing convinced me that he was all right and able to defend himself and I allowed the fight to go on.”