Ken Buchanan, Scotland’s very first undeniable boxing world champ, has actually passed away at the age of 77, the previous light-weight’s charity structure stated Saturday.
Edinburgh-born Buchanan beat Panama’s Ismael Laguna in Puerto Rico for the WBA light-weight title in 1970 and took the uninhabited WBC belt a year later on after combating Ruben Navarro in Los Angeles.
He lost the WBA title to Panama’s Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran in a questionable 1972 fight at New York’s Madison Square Garden, with the Scottish fighter taking an evident low blow to the groin at the end of the 13th round. Buchanan was not able to come out for the 14th, and the referee granted the fight to Duran, who had actually been conveniently ahead on points. There was no rematch.
Buchanan, who was called the 1970 Fighter of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America ahead of heavyweights Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, was identified with dementia in 2015.
“It’s with fantastic unhappiness that we need to notify you that Ken Buchanan died quietly in his sleep today,” the Ken Buchanan Foundation stated in a declaration.
