His fists earned him a world featherweight boxing title, but his songs and geniality won him his city’s hearts. Nicknamed the singing Irishman, Rinty Monaghan, even decades after he left the ring, remains a beloved Belfast icon. In a town full of fascinating characters, Monaghan has proven to be one of…

The exhausted Irish boxer stood in the middle of the makeshift boxing ring in the smoke-filled La Scala opera house in Dublin. Sweat was trickling down his face, tinged scarlett with a bit of blood oozing from a cut above his left eye. His chest was heaving with a heavy breathing -- a mixture of fatigue and…

The Garda take on the FDNY in a slugfest at the Garden -- in the first ever Pro/Am Boxing event to be held there --with an offer to fellow members of…

I just saw a great film about "The Greatest," another person of Irish descent, titled The Trials of Muhammad Ali.  The documentary doesn't delve into Ali's Irish roots.  It focuses mainly on his conversion to Islam and his resistance to the draft during the Vietnam War.  It's a fascinating story, and the film…