Tributes as boxing legend Ken Buchanan dies aged 77

Boxing legend Ken Buchanan has died at the age of 77 triggering a wave of tributes from the world of sport.

Buchanan was Scotland’s first undisputed world champion and one of the country’s greatest ever boxers.

The tragic news comes a year after his family revealed that he had been diagnosed with dementia.

His son Mark said he passed away at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital. Mark, 52, said: “My dad sadly passed away this morning in his sleep.”

Buchanan’s last public appearance came when he placed the ball in the centre circle before a match between Hibernian and his beloved Hearts at Easter Road.

In August he attended a ceremony when a life size bronze statue in his honour was unveiled at the top of Leith Walk.

Mark said: “He was over the moon when the statue was unveiled and we used to go up most weekends.

“He liked to go up for a laugh, to see if anyone would recognise him when he was standing next to it. But he was really proud of that.

“I was with him on Monday and he was laughing and joking. He was in the best form I’d seen him for a while and he was happy in himself.

“With dementia, there were good days and bad but on the good days we would have a few jokes and a laugh.”

Buchanan, who was born in Leith in 1945, took up boxing at eight years old, after persuading his dad Tommy to take him to Edinburgh’s Sparta Club.

The Ken Buchanan MBE Foundation said: “It’s with great sadness that we have to inform you that Ken Buchanan passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning.

“RIP Ken always a gentleman and one of the best champions we will ever see.”

He and fellow Scot Jim Watt famously opened the St Andrew’s Sporting Club in Glasgow in January 1973, with Edinburgh edging out Glasgow on the scorecard, although Watt would also later become a world champion in his own right.

Buchanan, like many boxers, fought on for too long and was still fighting into his 37th year.

Like many great sportsmen of that era, he fell on hard times and he struggled to deal with an addiction to alcohol.

In the ring he achieved legendary status – becoming undisputed lightweight champion of the world in 1970.

In that year, he was the American Boxing Writers’ Association’s Fighter of the Year, ahead of Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali.

His fight record stood at 61-8 in a career spanning 17 years. Born in Edinburgh, he rose to the top of his sport, picking up the British lightweight title three years after his first pro bout.

His win over Ismael Laguna in Puerto Rico placed him in the top tier of his sport. He had further high-profile bouts – the controversial defeat to Roberto Duran in Madison Square Garden and an epic with future world champ Jim Watt when he regained the British belt.

Buchanan, dubbed “the Tartan Legend”, inspired a new generation of boxers including Josh Taylor aka the “Tartan Tornado”.

The pair – both Hibs fans – frequently met up and he visited Taylor’s Prestonpans home when he became undisputed super-lightweight champion in 2021. Taylor said: “I’m saddened to hear the news of the passing of my hero and Scotland’s greatest ever champ, whom I take such inspiration from. RIP Ken Buchanan, god bless your soul.”