Boxing manager Alice Ward dead at 79

LOWELL, Mass., April 28 (UPI) -- Alice Ward, the mother and manager of boxers Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund, has died in a Boston hospital, months after suffering a heart attack and stroke.

She was 79 when she died Wednesday at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

Melissa Leo won an Oscar this year for playing Alice Ward in the film, "The Fighter." Christian Bale picked up the prize for his portrayal of Eklund in the movie.

"She was a great mother who had a big heart and loved everybody fully," Micky Ward told the Boston Herald. "She had 19 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren, and she loved them all."

She is also the mother of seven daughters.

The Herald said a funeral will be held for Alice Ward Friday at St. Margaret's in Lowell, Mass.