One day in the sun

In the third of his summer series on the greatest moments in sport, Steve Bunce looks back at Ken Buchanan’s 1970 against-the-odds world title win in searing tropical heat

IN 1969 Ken Buchanan was unbeaten in 32 fights, world- ranked, and popular with fans. And then he walked away f rom boxing, giving back the Lonsdale belt he won with his British lightweight title. One year later he was back in the business. He flew to San Juan, Puerto Rico, in August 1970 having been selected by a fight fixer called Dewey Fregatta as a soft touch for the brilliant world champion Ismael Laguna.

Buchanan, t hen 25, was in San Juan for three weeks before the fight, desperately trying to acclimatise to the searing and shattering heat. “How could you take a guy from Scotland and ask him to fight in that heat? It was crazy,” Buchanan said.

Laguna, from Panama, had been a champion on and off for five years before Buchanan was picked for slaughter in the midday sun. Laguna had wrecked his last two opponents in world title fights and was a real star of the sport. On paper both of his most recent victims were better fighters than Buchanan.

“Ismael looked unbeatable at that time and nobody gave me a realistic chance of upsetting him,” Buchanan said. “I was picked to lose and I knew that long before the fight started.”

No British boxer had won any version of a world title on foreign soil for more than 50 years, but there was a glorious history of bloody and painful defeats. Buchanan knew that most expected his name to be added to the list of gallant failures. It was the extra motivation he needed.

The fight was brutal on both boxers. It took place over the traditional distance of 15 rounds and the temperature in the ring reached 125F. It was truly no place for anybody to fight but Laguna was going over old ground in the burning heat at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium.

However, he had never been in such a fearsome contest and even his trio of 15- round fights with Carlos Ortiz lacked the intensity of what took place in the ring that afternoon against the pale Scot.

Buchanan was a massive betting underdog – Fregatta had done his homework – but nobody allowed for his heart and desire.

At some point Buchanan’s father Tommy borrowed an umbrella from one of the sensible women at ringside and used it shield his son during the 60- second breaks that interrupted the ferocity.

“My dad went and got a parasol – it wasn’t called an umbrella over there – and that helped, but it was shocking heat,” Buchanan said.

Tommy Buchanan was 97 when he died last summer.

It was obvious early on that the world championship fight would

The temperature in the ring hit 125F during what was a brutal fight

be a savage battle of attrition and commitment. Buchanan’s eyes closed as the rounds took their toll; his left was nearly shut after 11 rounds and at the end his right was just a dark slit. Laguna was exhausted when the final bell sounded.

“It was some fight, a crazy fight,” Buchanan said. “I was sitting there between rounds, with my dad holding a parasol to protect me from the sun, and I was fighting the best lightweight in the world and winning. It was unreal.”

The decision was a split in Buchanan’s favour. He was the WBA lightweight champion of the world but had to be helped from the ring because of his limited vision; it was his father’s arm that he clasped.

The elegant Panamanian applauded Buchanan’s exit. Years later the pair were reunited at the Boxing Hall of Fame in New York, which was not a great experience. “He was in a bad way, couldn’t speak but I could see something in his eye – he knew me, I know he did,” Buchanan said.

Buchanan’s amazing victory was immediately downgraded by the British Boxing Board of Control who withdrew recognition of him as world champion. The Board had not been impressed with Buchanan giving them back their championship belt the previous summer.

At the time, the Board worked exclusively with the WBC. It was a fanciful affiliation and a disgraceful time for the sport’s administrators.

However, the New York Commission, the most powerful body in boxing in those days, not only recognised Buchanan as world champion but wanted the Scot in their city at their gleaming new temple of boxing, Madison Square Garden. “That was it, I was off again,” Buchanan said.

Buchanan fought in the Garden five times. He defended his world title twice, including beating Laguna on points in a rematch in 1971, but also lost it there in 1972 after being illegally struck in the groin – a knee delivered on the referee’s blind side by Roberto Duran.

However, it is the afternoon in the San Juan sunshine that remains Buchanan’s greatest achievement – and arguably the best by any British boxer – not the heavy adrenalin nights at the Garden, which included being chief support in late 1970 when Muhammad Ali returned to New York after his forced exile.

Buchanan’s Garden fights created frenzy at a time when great boxers ruled the sport. In 1970, for instance, he was awarded the Boxing Writers of America best fighter of the year award, beating Joe Frazier and Ali. Buchanan was a truly massive world star – and it all started in the sun.

“I thanked Ismael for giving me the title chance and for keeping me in the sun for so long,” Buchanan said. “I won the world title and got a suntan at the same time – that must be a first.”