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Nigel Benn seemed in high spirits all night, posing for endless pictures with his fans and play-fighting with friends.

His WBO belt was auctioned for the children’s charity Blazing Saddles, at the City Warriors white collar boxing event, All Guns Blazing 2, at the Emirates Stadium.

The tension was palpable behind the scenes where the boxers were warming up to fight, some of them for the first time.

Johann Sao Paolo, one of the coaches at the London Fight Factory, says that before their fighters enter the ring they focus on building up their confidence:

”We tell them to remember their game and they’ll do great”, he explained.

“The hardest fight is against yourself” said one of the fighters afterwards, wiping blood from his nose and managing to smear it across his face. “Its hard to focus and remember everything you’ve been taught.”

The highlight of the evening was William Fearn, an insurance solicitor, who trains at the London Fight Factory and fought the last match of the night.

He says his family couldn’t understand why he wanted to do it, but supported him when they realised how committed he was.

His girlfriend “didn’t have much choice as she is in Turkey,” he jokes, in an accent more reminiscent of tea parties than the Fight Club.

William says his biggest fear before stepping into the ring was getting his nose broken:

“After training so hard you kind of know where you are with the boxing”, he explains. “I’d love to do it again, but it takes up so much time and now I want to fight in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.”

“They come to us and we show them how to forget money and discover sport”, Johann comments with a wicked grin.

The exact amount raised on the night will be disclosed at a later date, but the organiser at City Warriors said: “we estimate the figure to be around three or four thousand pounds.”

Despite recent hand-wringing at the Emirates about whether to host world boxing championship events when the Premiership ends in May, no objection was made to the amateur tournament taking place.