All in the Family: Dicky Eklund Jr.

On a recent trip covering the Benavidez-Andrade fight in Vegas I had the pleasure of chatting with Dick Eklund Jr. He was in town with his boss, and fellow staff members, from the famed Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California. Eklund was working with head trainer Freddie Roach, who has taken Eklund under his wing as a co-trainer.

Eklund certainly has the family connection to the sport as his father was a rugged welterweight who did his hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts proud facing the likes of “Sugar” Ray Leonard and Davey “Boy” Green, among others throughout the 70’s and 80’s. And, his uncle is another Lowell legend in “Irish” Micky Ward, who had an outstanding career capped off by a trio of famous fights with late Hall of Fame star Arturo Gatti.

So, to say he has grown up around boxing would be an understatement. So, it is no surprise to find the native of Lowell, Mass. working in the sport.

MaxBoxing caught up with the friendly, affable Eklund for a quick chat after another day of training at “The “House Freddie Built”.

Let’s take a minute to get to know Dicky Eklund Jr.

Bill Tibbs: Hi Dicky, great to meet you in Vegas.

Dick Eklund Jr: Yeah, that was great, thanks for coming over to say hello.

BT: The obvious question would be, did your upbringing influence you in your current career path?

DE: Oh, for sure. I mean my dad always raised me to be in boxing. I was in the gym at about age 3. I think I weighed about 50 pounds. Fighting in the Silver Mittens at age 7. But, everybody was boxing, my cousins, everyone around me and I think at times it kind of drove me away from my desire to compete, made me want to try football, baseball, other sports. But, my dad had a very bad back and he struggled a lot with that and I would do the mitts, help him with his training and I really started to enjoy that aspect of it. I liked working with fighters and fine fine-tuning their style and bring in aspects of my style that they could incorporate. I really started to like the aspect of teaching and training.

BT: How did you end up in LA and hooked up with Freddie? 

DE: I had been around the filming of “The Fighter” movie and had been speaking to Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg about boxing and training. They both encouraged me to come out to LA and see how I like it, take a shot at it. They saw that there would be a lot more opportunities in LA than at home in Lowell and they encouraged me to come out. I had actually been to a few other gyms, and I really wanted to check out the Wild Card. I went over there and walked up the steps and just by chance Freddie was standing on the steps by himself. I said “Hi, I’m Dicky Eklund Jr.” He replied, “you can’t be because I’d have met you by now”. We had a laugh and hit it off. I told him what I was doing out in Los Angeles and what I’d like to try to do. He just said, “Come back tomorrow and bring your pads. We open at 7 and we close at 8”. It just started from there. From there it was just 24/7 Freddie, soaking up everything I could. Learning, working, soaking up all the knowledge to make me a better trainer, build on all the things I have and learn as much as I can.       

BT: In social posts, you always see Freddie refer to his Wild Card “family”, and his Wild Card “home”. It seems there is a great atmosphere there, a real team approach to the training.    

DE: It really is. I mean I have a bit of a history with Freddie. My grandma used to babysit him. Him being a Massachusetts guy knows my family and all that. I used to watch Freddie growing up and here I am working with him, so it is pretty surreal sometimes. Freddie has a great gym here. Marie runs the gym and does a fantastic job. The gym has that old-school feel of a northeast gym like back home, but on the west coast. We have a great group here and we work hard, and it is old school in many ways but very professionally organized and handled at the same time.

BT: I know some of the other Wild Card people there; Pepe, Pedro, Marie, Steve, Marvin. Just a fantastic group. A really talented group of trainers and coaches and such great people. That makes for a wonderful atmosphere.

DE: Absolutely, a great group here and a great place to train and learn. Lots of old pro’s here training guys, and young contenders, and everything in between. You are right it is a great atmosphere to work and learn and for fighters to train.  

BT: What is your primary role with Freddie and the training? 

DE: Well, I work with Freddie with specific fighters, and I have a few that I am working with directly. But, kind of like Marvin (Somodio) used to do, well he still does, but he has also branched out on his own with some fighters in the lead role. But, I am working with Freddie and just doing a lot of different roles. Maybe working the pads for power with body shots, doing other roles that might take the load off him sometimes with heavy shots and training. Just working with him and doing really anything I can to support him and to learn from him all the time.

BT: What is the primary thing that Freddie would insist on seeing with any fighter you are going to work with?

DE: The biggest thing that I would say that is so important to Freddie is heart and discipline. If you say you are going to do something in training, then you follow through and do it. Your word is your bond in that gym and that is so important. He wants to see a disciplined work ethic and fighter who is willing to put his heart and discipline into his training because he’ll take that into the ring.

BT: Your dad was a very well-known fighter. Uncle Micky certainly is very well known especially after all the exciting wars he was in. Is the Eklund/Ward name sort of boxing royalty in the Lowell, Massachusetts area? (Laughs).  

DE: (Laughs). Ha, yeah, I guess you could say that we are certainly well known. It is so interesting and nice to have a stranger come up to me and say, ‘Hey I used to love watching your dad fight’. It is nice to hear, it means a lot. Dad and Uncle Micky are certainly well known. People used to crack the joke, “In Lowell, we hit like Micky and party like Dicky”. (Laughs). But, yeah, I grew up with my dad and uncle as well-known fighters, so it was always there my whole life. I mean when I say my whole family lives in Lowell, I mean everybody, all my aunts uncles, relatives; everybody. It is a special place for me. Always will be.  

BT: It is well documented that your dad has had his struggles at times. How is he doing?

DE: You know what, he is doing really well. We have a great relationship. I speak to him several times a week and he is sober and doing real well. Of course I am bias because he’s my dad and I love him but I have to say he is one of the most genuine guys you’ll ever meet. He can stop and speak to a homeless person on the street, or a movie star and he has the exact same attitude and approach with them. He’s genuine, straight up and treats everyone the same. Yeah, he is doing well. Thanks for asking.   

BT: Dicky it’s been great chatting and I look forward to talking down the road. Thanks for your time. On behalf of everyone at MaxBoxing, please say hello to your dad and Micky. Also, please pass along a big hello to everyone at the Wild Card for me.

DE: I sure will. Thanks, Bill, nice talking with you.