The athlete Maeve Kyle looked after us all and it was the most successful set of Irish boxers ever to go to an Olympics as we won four bronze medals.

"[citation needed] After six successful bouts in Scotland, Caldwell made his return to Belfast where he out pointed the Spaniard Esteban Martin in late 1958.

His career continued to flourish and two years later he claimed the British flyweight title when knocked out the holder Frankie Jones at the King's Hall.

In due course, he moved up a weight to bantamweight and a world and European title fight was arranged with the French-Algerian fighter Alphonse Halimi.

The fight, which took place in London in May 1961, went the full distance and Caldwell was awarded the points decision to become the first Irishman since Rinty Monaghan in 1948 to win a world title.

"Halimi was very, very dangerous man and a hard hitter ...[H]is was constantly at me and I couldn't take my eyes off him for a split second – the fight was one of the hardest of my career.

In February 1962, a unification bout for the bantamweight title of the world was arranged for São Paulo in Brazil, where Caldwell was to face the legendary Eder Jofre.

"Eder Jofre was the greatest bantamweight and the hardest-hitter for his weight of all time ... [I] remember the place was packed to the rafters and there were many thousands locked outside the arena.

"[citation needed] While Caldwell sought to regain his title, a chance to guarantee a rematch with Jofre turned up rather closer to home.

Gilroy had made a name for himself in the world bantamweight division and a clash with Caldwell for the British and Empire titles was set for the King's Hall on Saturday, 20 October 1962.

However, his problem with cut eyes came back to haunt him just three months later when he was forced to retire from a bout with Michel Atlan at the Albert Hall.

When asked about his views on contemporary boxing, Caldwell replied: "It was an entirely different game to the one that I was involved in fifty years ago ... [Y]ou had to be totally dedicated back then, clean-living and prepared to make a lot of sacrifices to survive at the top.