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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Lee Dalgetty

Edinburgh boxing legend Ken Buchanan's memorial service to be held at St Giles' Cathedral

The memorial service for Edinburgh boxing legend Ken Buchanan will be held at St Giles' Cathedral on April 25.

The Scottish legend died at the beginning of the month, after an impressive career where he rose to undisputed world lightweight champion in 1971. The procession will pass the former Sparta Boxing Club, McDonald Road and Ken Buchanan statue.

He was made an MBE in 1972, with his statue revealed in Edinburgh last year. It was also last year that his son revealed he was suffering from dementia and living in a care home.

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Born June 28, 1945, Ken became a professional boxer in 1965. He went on to win the WBA lightweight world title by dethroning Panama's Ismael Laguna in Puerto Rica in 1970, defeating Ruben Navarro in Los Angeles in 1971, and earning 33 other wins.

Edinburgh’s Lord Provost Robert Aldridge, said on the day of his death: “Today Edinburgh has lost one of its most renowned sons with the death of boxing legend Ken Buchanan at the age of 77.

“Born in Leith in 1945, Ken Buchanan would go on to become Scotland's first undisputed world champion and was once voted ‘Britain’s Greatest Ever Boxer’ by the Boxing News.

“Ken won a huge local fan base for putting Edinburgh firmly on the map and in 2016 he was presented with the Edinburgh Award. It is very fitting that his famous fighting hands have been immortalised on a flagstone outside the City Chambers.

“Throughout his life, he showed great appreciation for his native city and its people, and just last August crowds gathered to celebrate as a statue of Ken was unveiled at a public ceremony on Leith Walk.

“On behalf of the city, I want to convey heartfelt sympathies and condolences to Ken's family and friends. Our city mourns one of its most celebrated sons. May he rest in peace and I’m sure his legacy will be longstanding."

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