Paddy Benson said one of his grandfather’s proudest achievements was creating an environment where people from different backgrounds could come together through sport.
The Small Heath gym full of “underdogs” became a focal point for communities across Birmingham, he said.
“As an Irish immigrant coming into the country in the 1940s, he had an understanding that it was a very tough time for any immigrant, you needed to be hard mentally and physically to survive the injustices,” he said.
“It was a gym that was full of immigrant cultures, it was always a place where communities could bind together.
“It was almost a place of therapy, a place that they were welcomed and use boxing as a form of cement to bind each other together.
“He was so passionate about that right up until his last days, to create a place that could bind people together rather than create hate and division.”