Russell worked for The Irish News which devoted its front page to mark his death.

A minute’s silence was held in his honour at Corrigan Park in Belfast before the Antrim Hurling Club final between Cushendall and Loughgiel.

"Hugh was a great boxer, a fantastic boxing Ambassador for Belfast, an amazing photographer for The Irish News and most importantly a brilliant person," Belfast Lord Mayor Ryan Murphy said.

Russell, known as "Little Red" because of his hair colour, boxed for the Holy Family Club in Belfast.

At the age of only 18, he won flyweight bronze for Northern Ireland at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, where he was a team-mate of Barry McGuigan.

"We travelled the world together as amateurs and shared the same stable as pros," McGuigan said in a social media message.

At the 1980 Moscow Olympics, he represented Ireland and lost to eventual champion Petar Lesov of Bulgaria in the semi-final.

Russell later revealed that it was at the Moscow Games that his interest in photography was kindled.

"Being in the Olympic Village made it hard to spend any money as everything was free anyway to the athletes," he recalled in Barry Flynn’s book Legends of Irish Boxing.

"At the end of the Games, I had an awful lot of spare money and you could not bring Russian money back with you, so I spied this large Zenith camera and bought it and that started me on the photography."

His Olympic bronze for Ireland was emulated by Paddy Barnes in 2008 and 2012.

"I always wanted to follow in his footsteps because we were relatively the same weight, the same colour hair," Barnes told the BBC.

"He was such a fantastic fighter, his amateur pedigree right through to his professional career."

In 1981, Russell turned professional and won the British bantamweight and flyweight titles and also a Lonsdale Belt in 1985, the year he retired from the ring.

He became a renowned photographer for The Irish News.

In 1989, one of his most famous pictures depicted Gerry Conlon leaving court after his conviction for the Guildford pub bombings was overturned.

Russell remained connected with the sport of boxing as a Northern Ireland Area Council member and a steward of the British Boxing Board of Control.

"He always had the fighters’ best interest at heart. One of the nicest men you could meet," Northern Ireland boxer and a world champion in two weight classes Carl Frampton said.

The funeral service is due to take place at St Patrick's Church on Donegall Street in Belfast, close to the offices of the newspaper he graced as a photographer.