And the venue may have been the III Masonic Lodge in Hawick and not New York's Madison Square Gardens.

But the boxers were nevertheless there. Boxers from the past and boxers from the present.

And right there among them was a former world professional lightweight champion, a fighter who was a living legend on the boxing scene.

Ken Buchanan was the name, boxing was the game, and the Hawick Amateur Boxing Club's annual dinner was the occasion.

Edinburgh man Buchanan was there as the guest speaker and he turned out to be a real knockout.

Overall, Buchanan had 69 bouts, winning 61 – 27 of them by knockout – before retiring from the ring in 1982.

Without doubt one of the best boxers Britain has ever produced, Buchanan's opening story of the night, however, wasn't a boxing tale, but one of a marvellous summer holiday in Hawick.

He told the hall that the family, in his dad's car, was on the way to Blackpool for a week, driving down from Edinburgh. But the car broke down eight times and they ended up staying on a farm on the outskirts of Hawick next to a stone bridge (Martin's Bridge).

He remembers catching his first ever trout in a burn (the River Teviot) and that his mother cooked it over a fire, and for a boy from Edinburgh this was something great.

And he said the week in Hawick ended up one of the best holidays he was ever to have.

Talking of boxing, Buchanan conjured up many excellent and amusing stories.

One gem, in particular, was when, while set to top the bill in a world title fight in America, the promoters approached Buchanan to ask if another boxer on the undercard could share his dressing room.

The fighter in question was an up-and-coming star Muhammad Ali. Buchanan's reference to the sharing of the dressing room, and the antics that went on, was hilarious.

Buchanan, who is one of the few boxers from outwith the United States to have been inducted into the American Boxing Hall of Fame, conducted a question-and-answer session following his talk, which went down a treat.

And in a break during the evening's proceedings, Buchanan took time to talk to the Hawick News.

He said: "My main reason for coming to the dinner was due to my connection with Davie Fraser, who used to box for the Hawick Club.

"Davie and I have been friends for years, he was a class boxer and should have gone further in the sport.

"I also know Jock Thorburn, who was Davie's coach at one time, and although he couldn't make it to the dinner as he's unwell, I managed to visit him at his home and that was great.

"My other association with Hawick is the summer holiday all those years ago when I caught that trout. It's something I have never forgotten."

Eleven awards were made during the evening, including the presentation of the Andy Turnbull Cup by Stuart Sharkey to the club's first female boxer Suzanne Harrow.

The full list of honours were: The Davie Paterson Shield – Hughie-Joe Hutchison; The Stuart Sharkey Cup – Jake Mulroy; The Souter Shield (from Selkirk brothers John and Bobby Black) – Wattie Hogg; The Ian Niblo Cup – David Paterson; The 'Dodger' Brown Cup, presented by Richie Brown – Scott Grant; The Stevie Lyons Cup, presented by Billy Clamp – Craig Johnston; The John Sharkey Shield, presented by George Telfer – David Clamp; The thinkfitness award, presented by Stuart Oliver – Tommy Beattie; The Jock Thorburn Award, presented by Billy Finn – Gareth Walker; The Fighting Finnie Award, presented by Dave Finnie – 'Mr Boxing' Jock Thorburn, which was collected by his son John.

The Watson McAteer Award brought about joint winners in Sean Gentleman and Adrian Quintus, while Stuart Oliver, from thinkfitness, received a signed photograph of Ken Buchanan from the man himself for the club's boxing gym.

The evening was chaired in a splendid manner by club president Eddie Brogan, who spoke of the club and of the great work done by Jock Thorburn for Hawick boxing.

Excellent entertainment was provided by well known local performers Drew Gibb, Dave Finnie and John Tait, while a first class meal was served up by Brydons Bakery and Restaurant.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALISTAIR LEARMONTH