THE sad news that former Scottish lightweight champion and bonafide world boxing legend, Ken Buchanan, has been taken into a care home in Edinburgh with mental health issues is a sobering reminder of the man’s unending struggle to successfully transition from life in the ring to the challenges thrown up by life outside it.

A proud son of Edinburgh, who was always more revered in America than in his home town, Ken Buchanan was active during the sport’s golden age in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Winning his world title in the scorching heat of Puerto Rico over 15 gruelling rounds against Panama’s Ismael Laguna in 1970 remains arguably the most outstanding performance of any Scottish and British fighter overseas in the sport’s history.

Afterwards Buchanan turned Madison Square Garden in New York into a home away from home, headlining there five times in the early 70s. The acknowledged Mecca of boxing in its day, this was an arena where even the most accomplished of champions and contenders were liable to be overwhelmed by the pressure of occupying its hallowed terrain.