Boxing greats’ memorabilia went up in smoke with legend’s gym

Mr Morrison, who trains world champion Ricky Burns and staged Mike Tyson’s fight at Hampden Park in 2000, said that the fire took hold in the gym’s sauna.

“It started off there, but it could have an electrical fault, it could have been the sauna, it could have been anything,” he said.

“We just smelled smoke, the fire alarm went off and we decided to vacate the building.”

More than 30 firefighters were called to the blaze late on Thursday evening.

Mr Morrison, 72, said that the memorabilia lost included items once belonging to flyweight Benny Lynch, Scotland’s first world boxing champion.

The promoter said: “I’ve lost stuff from my school days, boxing medals, stuff from all over the world – signed photographs from Sugar Ray Robinson and his manager George Gainford; memorabilia from nearly all the champions: Frazier, Mohammad Ali, signed photos. I’m worried about the financial side, but losing stuff like that, you can’t replace it.

“I had Benny Lynch stuff that was irreplaceable, I had all his contracts for his home title fights. I also had his old wind-up cine camera, his wife gave it to me, and it was still working. It’s gone as well.”

However, Mr Morrison said yesterday he had been overwhelmed by the support he had received following the fire.

“I felt like throwing myself in the Clyde today but then people started texting and phoning me, and the support has been fantastic,” he said.

“I’ve had so much encouragement from people. I had four people before 11 o’clock this morning offering me £100,000 each towards rebuilding the gym.”

The promoter insisted that it would take just six weeks for the gym to be up and running again and that he would be having “a big re-opening” in the new year. However, he criticised Strathclyde Fire Brigade’s handling of the incident, and said he felt firefighters had not acted quickly enough to limit the damage caused by the flames or save his boxing memorabilia.

Last night Assistant Chief Officer David Goodhew said: “We received our first call at 4:15pm, and our first appliances were on the scene at Swanston Street at 4:20pm.

“When firefighters arrived, all members of the public were evacuated from the building for their own safety. By 4:29pm firefighters equipped with breathing apparatus and hose-reel jets were in the building and fighting the fire.

“Damage to any property, home or commercial, in a fire is obviously devastating.

“In such traumatic incidents, 30 seconds can seem like an eternity.

“In this case, firefighters on the scene recovered items of boxing memorabilia which will no doubt be treasured by the owner.”

Mr Goodhew said that an investigation into the cause of the blaze was continuing.