LEWIS BENSON is fighting the urge to laugh.

Containing his amusement proves more formidable than his last bout, a two-round sparring match which ended with the submission of his opponent and a retreat to a small changing room within the spartan Lochend Gym in Edinburgh.

It is an unassuming building set amid a residential area in the east of the city but it houses the ambitions of aspiring Scottish boxers, among them Benson whose blue vest worn during the Commonwealth Games in the summer has been hung on a wall.

The Scotland uniform became synonymous with success in Glasgow as Charlie Flynn threw both punches and punchlines in the ring to win lightweight gold and Lochend member Josh Taylor triumphed in the light welterweight class. Benson was defeated in an unfamiliar welterweight category but his name continues to be revered; an appearance in Glasgow raising his profile further among local fighters. "After the Games everybody wants to fight me and I say line them up. I'll fight them all. I want to fight everybody," he says.

That invitation was most recently extended to Herald Sport, a square go with a smile to be held within the ring recently installed at Lochend Gym following sponsorship from personal injury solicitors, Watermans Accidents Claim and Care. Benson is not trained to hold back in bouts - the affray opened with a belt in the nose from the three-time Scottish champion - and his enthusiasm remains undiluted by his experience in Glasgow.

Recalling the disappointment of a 2-1 opening round defeat by Bowyn Morgan of New Zealand induces the Scot a wince more than the powerful left hand which sent him into the ropes in the second round of that fight. Benson had been convinced of his ability to claim Commonwealth gold for his country even in a heavier weight category than he was used to and gave up both a job as an electrician and his financial stability to pursue success. He trained full-time for two years. His involvement at the Games was over after six minutes.

"After [the Commonwealth Games] I've never felt so low in my life. I never cry over boxing . . . but I was devastated," says Benson. "I've never been that low before. When I was still there and around the boys I was fine but as soon as I got home, that's when it went bad.

"I couldn't sleep at nights. I've never wanted anything so bad in my life, never trained so hard for anything in my life. I made a mistake which I'd say cost me the medal. I was training full-time for 18 months before the Games and got myself into debt. One mistake cost me and that's a mistake I will live with for the rest of my life."

Benson considered taking a break from the sport to help repair his fractured morale but he could not withdraw completely, continuing to attend the gym for "light training". Having first taken up boxing at the age of 13 the sport has manifest as part of his normal routine, while it has also given him a means of combating adversity in the past.

Born in Edinburgh to a Nigerian father, Benson encountered racism at a young age and was assailed regularly by suspicion, being made a pariah in his community and an outcast at school. "Nobody wanted to be with me; mums wouldn't want their kid playing with me," he says. "I wasn't allowed in their garden, wasn't invited to parties. Once I was walking back with my mum and looked at a car in a driveway, just looked at this car, and this guy was like 'he looks like he's planning to break into my car'. I was 11.

"I got a lot of racial abuse, early days. I didn't know how to deal with it and eventually I started to hit out. I was really angry. I turned into this angry, angry kid. Going to the gym changed my life; I'm doing something positive with my life."

That will soon comprise a competitive return to the ring at light-welterweight level, with the Scottish Championships scheduled for early next year. Should Benson achieve further success at that event, he will be laughing.