GUTTY WARD BASKING IN RESPECT.

Byline: MICHAEL ROSENTHAL Boxing

LAS VEGAS - For Mickey Ward, one fight validated a career.

It isn't so much the money he commands after he met Arturo Gatti in their savage brawl in May, although that's nice for a 37-year-old who has fought much of his 17-year career for a few hundred dollars a round.

It is the respect, the recognition he has received afterward.

The relatively few fans who have closely followed the career of the Boston-area native loved him even when he was a relatively anonymous club fighter. The word ``throwback'' is often used to describe him, a romantic notion of a bygone warrior with limited skills but inhuman courage and resilience - traits we so admire.

Ward, who faces Gatti again Saturday in Atlantic City, N.J., and on HBO, has demonstrated his mind-boggling will every time he has stepped through the ropes. It just never reached the intensity or the wide audience of his first meeting with Gatti.

The experts expected something special. The participants might be ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the world in terms of fearlessness and ability to absorb punishment. You pick the order.

However, no one could've predicted the drama that night in Uncasville, Conn.

Gatti, the better boxer, tried to move and fight from the outside, but his instincts and Ward's relentless aggression lured him into the brawl the bout became. They stood with feet planted much of the 10-round fight, ripping hard, accurate punches with startling regularity as spectators alternately cheered and winced.

The ninth round was a classic, as the fighters unloaded blows with utter disregard for their safety. Ward landed the biggest punch, putting Gatti down and nearly out with his signature left hook to the body that was felt by everyone who saw it.

Somehow, Gatti survived the blow and threw almost 100 punches to win the following round and almost pulled out the fight. Ward was awarded a majority decision but nobody - neither the fighters nor the fans - lost on this night.

Some called it the best fight they could remember.

``It's hard to say when you're doing it,'' said Ward, as mild out of the ring as he is vicious in it, ``but watching it afterward, I can't think of many fights better. ... He started fast, I came on. Then he came on, back and forth. It was the ebb and flow. And, in the end, anyone could've gotten the nod. ...

``I don't know if we could do it again; it's hard to say. I'll just fight my hardest and see what happens.''

No doubt. If anyone doubted his determination before the fight, no one does now, which is particularly gratifying for him.

Ward has had a nice career. He pleased a lot of fans up and down the East Coast from 1985 to 1990, and then took three years off after losing four consecutive fights and his confidence. He came back in 1995 and was never better, landing a handful of big fights and acquitting himself well.

He also built a considerable national following among serious boxing fans as a staple on ESPN, impressing observers with his never-give-up action style.

However, he endured his share of frustration. He lost his only major-title fight because of a cut above his eye against Vince Phillips in 1997 and also lost to James Leija (cut on Leija), Antonio Diaz (decision) and Zab Judah (decision) in recent high-profile fights.

Only recently did all the years of give-and-take fights pay off in terms of money.

And, most important, he was admired but never a star - until he met Gatti.

That fight put him over the top at a time when most fighters have long retired, made him something of a legend, even a hero to some. ``Irish'' Mickey Ward: No one is more entertaining, no one is better conditioned, no one has more guts. That perception means as much to Ward as a prospective shot at Kostya Tszyu's junior welterweight championship if he wins Saturday at a sold-out arena.

``I'll always remember the last fight (with Gatti),'' he said. ``It made my whole career worthwhile. People talking about it, what they were saying, a sellout crowd at the Boardwalk (this Saturday), 12,000 people. It's something else.

``I showed people, I persevered. Up and down, I never gave up. I hung in there. When I only made $1,000 for a 10-rounder, I hung in there. I had 11 losses and I plugged away.''

That's Ward, forever plugging away. And more people than ever are taking notice.

--Morales-Ayala: Erik Morales did what many believed he'd do, prove that a good big man generally beats a good little man. Paulie Ayala was as game as ever - particularly in light of a badly swollen left eye - but couldn't overcome a bigger, stronger man.

However, Morales' accomplishment shouldn't be underestimated. He suffered to make the 126-pound weight limit, which left him badly dehydrated leading up the fight, and said afterward that he hurt both hands during the fight.

Still, he threw 961 punches, including 141 in an unforgettable 12th round in which the fists of both fighters never stopped flying. And he was remarkably accurate, connecting on 44 percent overall and 52 percent of his power punches.

Clearly, it was Morales' best performance in some time and underscored his image as one of the world's top fighters.

The victory would also seem to have set up a rubber match with arch rival Marco Antonio Barrera, but Morales doesn't seem to want it. Obviously, he hates being linked so closely to Barrera and it might be time for him to step up to 130 pounds.

The money a third meeting with Barrera would bring might be irresistible, though.

For what it's worth, Ayala predicted after the fight that he would favor Barrera in a third fight.

``I see Barrera beating him,'' Ayala said. ``He's a better fighter, a better boxer, a better puncher.''

It could be that a frustrated Ayala was getting in some shots after failing to do so in the one-sided fight. In fact, Morales-Barrera III would be the tossup the first two fights were.

--Vargas' hearing: Fernando Vargas' immediate future hinges on a Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing Wednesday to determine his punishment for testing positive for steroids after his Sept. 14 loss to Oscar De La Hoya.

Things look promising for him: Commissioners reportedly will be lenient with Vargas because they only recently began cracking down on steroid use.

Vargas is expected to receive a short suspension or none at all after not contesting the test findings and saying repeatedly that he unknowingly took the banned drugs.

That means the Camarillo resident and his handlers can begin to plot his immediate future and they have some ideas.

Assuming for a moment De La Hoya's proposed junior-middleweight elimination tournament doesn't take place, De La Hoya probably won't want to fight No. 1 contender Javier Castillejo a second time and might have to vacate the WBC version of the junior middleweight title.

Vargas would then hope to fight Castillejo for the vacant belt and then work toward a big-money rematch with De La Hoya.

``One fight and then Javier Castillejo,'' said Rolando Arellano, Vargas' co-manager. ``Hopefully, we can become champ again and Oscar will still be around.''

COMING UP

FRIDAY

--Miguel Cotto vs. Ubaldo Hernandez, super lightweights, Caguas, Puerto Rico, ESPN2.

--Hector Camacho Jr. vs. Freddie Gladd, welterweights, Lemoore, Calif., Telemundo.

--Juan Diaz vs. Arthur Cruz, Atlantic City, N.J., Telefutura.

SATURDAY

--Julio Diaz vs. Carlos Ramirez, lightweights, the Pond, Channel 9.

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COMING UP (see text)