Mixed marriage

What that means here is a marriage between a Catholic and a Protestant. Someone at church this morning was talking about a Catholic boxer from her home town (Monaghan) who was in a mixed marriage. I thought she was going to say he married someone originally from India or Nigeria, or another former British colony.

She said he fell in love when he was 10 with a girl from a prosperous Protestant family in Monaghan. He gave her a ring and told her he would marry her one day, and he did. They've been married for more than 40 years. During his boxing career, he had his dad sing Danny Boy before his matches because it is a nonsectarian song and he refused to fight any match promoted on a sectarian basis. He is now coach to Carl Frampton, the World Super Bantamweight champion, who is from one of Belfast's toughest neighborhoods, Tiger's Bay.

I was intrigued by the story and just found online that Carl is a Protestant married to a Catholic. Like his coach, Barry McGuigan, he wants to transcend the divisions that marred his childhood. How strange to find these peace ambassadors in the world of boxing.
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