In the final part of our three-day series on the St Andrew’s Club, Tommy Gimour shares some treasured memories from his photo album with HUGH MacDONALD...

A lifetime in ­boxing has provided Tommy Gilmour with close encounters with fame. As a boy, he stood alongside Muhammad Ali, he carried the numbers for a Sonny ­Liston bout and met the great Archie Moore.

Gilmour, the peerless Scottish boxing promoter, treasures the memories. And cherishes the photographs.

As the St Andrew’s Sporting Club celebrates its 300th night on Monday, Gilmour allowed the Evening Times to peek into his photo album ... revealing the great, the good and the altogether surprising.

Ali is there. “But Chic Calderwood was still my hero,” says Gilmour. Nelson Mandela is there. “It was a poignant meeting for me because I remember my dad going to South Africa in the early 50s and telling me about the evils of apartheid when he came back,” says Gilmour.

“The trip to South Africa made a lasting impression on him. So meeting Mandela carried a great weight with me.”

Gilmour has also brushed shoulders with most of the greats of boxing. His first memorable trip in a lifetime of travelling was to Detroit as a boy to watch Henry Hank defeat his hero Calderwood.

But Gilmour, 58, who was brought up in Oatlands, has cheered on a series of home victories, including his greatest moment in boxing when he promoted Pat Clinton’s victory over Mexican boxer Isidro Perez at the Kelvin Hall in 1992.

Gilmour, who took out his boxing licence 40 years ago to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, has also met fascinating figures away from the ring.

He has mixed with sportsmen and politicians ... but also employed some who have risen to prominence in business, such as Ultimo founder Michelle Mone.