An East Lothian boxer will make his return to the ring this weekend – more than two decades after his last competitive bout – in memory of his late father.

When Tommy Quinn steps through the ropes in Portobello this evening (Friday), his focus will be on raising money for Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

His dad, Thomas, lost his battle against the disease last year, after battling MND for more than a year and travelling to Israel for groundbreaking stem cell treatment.

And Tommy, from Port Seton, admits it was “very tough to take” as the disease, for which there is currently no cure, took over his dad’s day-to-day life.

He told Courier Sport: “He lost his voice and was not able to do anything.

“He had absolutely no quality of life and it was horrible to see from a man who loved life every day.” And tonight in Portobello, 39-year-old Tommy will take on Bobby ‘The Hitman’ Collins, as they look to raise as much money as possible for the charity.

Ahead of the fight, Tommy told Courier Sport: “I just want to give something back to the charity.

“The idea was put to me by Bobby and he fought my brother [Willie ‘The Mighty’ Quinn] to try and raise some money and Bobby wanted to do a fight with me.” Tickets for the fight are almost sold out, and Quinn is hoping that the evening will allow him to make a handsome donation to MND.

“I haven’t set any targets, but we’ll be having a raffle on the night, so that will hopefully get some money,” said Tommy.

“I’ve done all my homework on MND but it’s not until you do that you realise there are more people with it than you think. Guys like [ex-Rangers footballer] Fernando Ricksen and there’s a rugby player too [former South Africa star Joost Van Der Westhuizen] so that’s raised its profile a bit.

“We’re just trying to get the word out there.” And Tommy, who helps run the Bronx Boxing Gym in Tranent along with John McCallum, is looking forward to making his return to the ring.

“I’ll be able to rely on my experience,” he said, when asked about making an in-ring return with his 40th birthday just around the corner.

“I help a lot of the kids at the Bronx with the technical side of their boxing, and John [McCallum] does the fitness side, so it’s not like I’ve been away from boxing all this time.” MND is a progressive disease involving degeneration of the motor neurons and wasting of the muscles for which there is currently no cure.

Ex-Rangers ace Ricksen hit the headlines in January as he held a charity match for MND at Ibrox, while Rugby World Cup winning scrum-half Van Der Westhuizen was on a tour of Britain last autumn to raise awareness of the disease.

Doors open at 6.30pm tonight at Portobello Town Hall tonight, and there is an impressive card of action scheduled for the night.