On Saturday night, half a century later, Pullen will make his own debut in the paid ranks two miles east at London’s Copper Box Arena.

Davidson retired in 1979 with a 15-1-1 record and the Southern Area bantamweight title to show for his efforts. Now his young grandson, who will campaign as a featherweight, has set his sights on claiming that belt first and foremost.

“You’ve got to take your time,” the likeable Pullen told The Ring. “For me it’s step-by-step and that means Southern Area first, then English, then British, then European. The correct way.

“I’ve always said from a kid that I want to do it like that and the fact my grandad won the Southern Area himself is a big reason I want to follow in those footsteps.”

In many ways, young Pullen is an old-school soul. He had his heart set on winning the senior ABAs before turning professional and did exactly that the season before last. Now, aged 22, he felt the time was right to turn over.

He has already been competing for 12 years. He made his amateur debut as a bony 10-year-old at a competition in Sweden. He won.

“It was a bit mad, though,” Pullen said. “At that age, if you stop your opponent, you get disqualified. You have to win purely on skill, so I had to keep a lid on it a bit.”

For Pullen, it was always going to be boxing. His grandad’s reputation as a south London favorite ensured that, especially once he took over the Thomas A Beckett, perhaps the most famous boxing pub in history.

Even Muhammad Ali visited the fabled boozer on the Old Kent Road, which had a first-floor gym space that served as Henry Cooper’s primary training location. Later on, Barry McGuigan would also spend time training there while Davidson and his children, which included Pullen’s mum, Ella, lived at the pub.

“I never met my grandad because he died before I was born, but growing up everyone used to tell me stories about him and the pub,” Pullen explained. “Everywhere I went, as soon as people realized it was my grandad, they’d bombard me with old tales about him. My mum grew up in the pub, so she saw it all.

“My nan tells me stories about the sparring that used to happen upstairs. They set up a camera feed, so the people in the pub downstairs could watch the sparring. Everyone would be sat down there on a Wednesday morning watching someone like Barry McGuigan sparring above their heads. Apparently, it used to be absolutely rammed in there for that.”

The same could be said of the Copper Box Arena on Saturday night, with heavyweight ticket-seller Johnny Fisher at the top of the bill on what is his Zuffa Boxing debut.

In another strange twist of fate, Pullen and Fisher are longtime friends who boxed together as kids at Hornchurch and Elm Park Boxing Club.

“Johnny boxed for Hornchurch with us,” Pullen said, scrolling through his phone before landing on a picture of the pair together as kids. “He was 15 at the time and I was 10. But I still remember Johnny from back then. I remember even at that age he was just knocking bods out.

“All my years boxing have stuck with me, so I can remember all of that. He’s no different now to how he was then, respectful and honest. Now fast forward 12 years and I’m making my debut on a show that he’s headlining.

“It’s one of those strange full-circle moments you seem to get in boxing. I always say they’re signs and they’re meant to be, in a weird way.”

So, 50 years on from his family’s first foray into professional boxing, Pullen will reignite their quest for hardware. His mum will be watching and Gary Davidson Jr., his uncle, will be in the corner taking care of his cuts, should Leonardo Faretina (8-9-2, 3 KOs) get to him at any point over their four-rounder.

“Mate, I’m just buzzing,” Pullen said of his debut. “I feel like I’ve been born to do this, and I can’t wait for this next chapter. I just want to enjoy it. I want to go out there, take my time and have fun because that’s what I’m doing it for; because we love it.”