Boxing

WHEN the sublime Ken Buchanan fell on  financial hard times thanks to an expensive divorce and failed business ventures, he turned to his old trade as a joiner.Well into his fifties, he was working on a luxury housing development outside of Glasgow.
The great Ken Buchanan became undisputed world lightweight champion in 1971Credit: Getty
Buchanan was one of Scotland’s finest ever ambassadors for sportCredit: Kenny Ramsay
Fellow icon Mike Tyson was thrilled to meet his ‘hero’ Buchanan in 2000Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Ken was sitting on a pile of bricks having a lunch break with a group of bricklayers when he was approached by a man who came out of the show house clutching a brochure.
Believing he recognised the elderly fella drinking his mug of tea, he asked: “Are you Ken Buchanan?”
Finding he was correct, he said: “Mr Buchanan, I’ve been one of your greatest admirers and I’m honoured to shake your hand. Would you sign my brochure?”
As the happy fan left with Ken’s signature, one awestruck young workmate said: “F*** me, Kenny —  you must be some joiner.”
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I’ve no idea how good a master joiner Ken was but, covering many of his big fights in the 1960s and ’70s I do know he was a master in the ring.
Ken, 77, suffered from dementia and died in a care home last weekend.
And with due respect to Benny Lynch, Walter McGowan and Josh Taylor, he was undeniably Scotland’s greatest-ever fighter.
Pound-for-pound he was one of the three best British fighters I’ve seen in my near 60 years as a boxing writer.
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John Conteh and Joe Calzaghe are the others.
It was a privilege to watch his virtuoso displays which led him to become the undisputed world lightweight champion. In his tartan shorts, he looked  straight out of a boxing textbook.
With a left jab made in heaven he was all grace, speed and accuracy —  never wasting a punch.
Ken won his first world title against all the odds, beating Panamanian Ismael Laguna in the blazing heat of a Puerto Rican open-air stadium.
The Americans were so impressed he ended up headlining five times at Madison Square Garden.
The hard-to-please New York crowd  loved him. On his first starring appearance there against Canada’s Donato Paduano in a non-title contest, Muhammad Ali — having  a comeback fight with Oscar Bonavena — was on his undercard.
Ken delighted in telling the story of how Angelo Dundee, Ali’s trainer, asked him if he would let The Greatest share his dressing room as he hadn’t been allocated one.
He couldn’t agree fast enough but, when Ali arrived, Ken drew an imaginary line down the  room and told him, “Don’t cross that line or there will be trouble.” Ali thought it was hilarious.
Not one of Ken’s  69 fights was at home in Edinburgh — only fighting in Scotland four times in a 17-year career.
So, just how good was he? When  Mike Tyson met Lou Savarese in Glasgow 23 years ago  — Savarese lasted 38 seconds  — I told him Ken would be at the weigh-in.
He lit up and said: “Please introduce me — he is one of my heroes.”
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I did and he took Ken to his suite, where they talked boxing for hours.
Kobe Bryant, the late basketball star, was right about sporting giants like Ken Buchanan, when he said: “Heroes come and go but legends are forever.”
Buchanan was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002Credit: PA
Cuban-born Frankie Otero was twice beaten by Buchanan in 1973Credit: Getty More

JOE JOYCE has declared he can KNOCK OUT both Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin.The 37-year-old was left unimpressed by Joshua’s unanimous points victory against Franklin.
Joe Joyce has declared he can knock out both Anthony Joshua and Jermaine FranklinCredit: Getty
Joshua won his bout against Franklin with a unanimous points decisionCredit: Rex
And Joyce believes he has what it takes to knock both out.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “I’d knock both of them out with their performance the other night.
“I’d definitely force a stoppage on Franklin and Joshua’s ripe for the picking.
“Not great but [Joshua] got the job done. He went 12 rounds, I thought he would come with some more firepower and aim to push a stoppage but he wasn’t really putting shots together.
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“He was [using] single shots and boxed kind of like he did in the [Andy] Ruiz second fight. So it was a little bit disappointing.
“He seems to have gone, in my opinion, a bit backwards. Hasn’t progressed. I think he lacked the combinations but I think Franklin was a tough guy.”
Joshua is eyeing his next fight in the summer, with a number of potential opponents lined up including Joyce, Dillian Whyte, Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury.
And 15-0 Joyce believes Joshua should be desperate to fight him due to him now having a higher rank and holding the WBO interim heavyweight title.
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He explained: “That would be his route back in.
“It would definitely be his way back in because I’m in front of him now, at last, high up the rankings and obviously got the WBO Interim.
“I was always trying to catch up with him but now I’ve overtaken him, so that’s good. That’s what I wanted. But I haven’t caught up to him financially yet so I need to have those big fights.”
However, Joyce revealed he expects AJ to dodge a fight with him in the summer.
Instead, he believes Joshua will prefer to face off with Whyte, who he previously defeated back in 2015 to claim the British heavyweight title.
Joyce added: “I’m a threat and he would prefer that [Whyte fight] until he’s got his mojo back.
“I’d like to see him against Dillian Whyte, because I think Dillian Whyte’s in the same situation. He didn’t really look too great in the last fight.
“So it would be good to see who the better man is and obviously they’ve got past bad blood. I think the fans would get behind that fight. It would be a good fight.”

Joyce himself is due to fight Zhilei Zhang on April 15.
Though he has insisted he is ready to step up to fight Tyson Fury after the Gypsy King’s talks with Oleksandr Usyk for a heavyweight unification bout collapsed. More

JOE JOYCE has been dubbed “tougher” than Tyson Fury – by a man who has sparred with both heavyweights.
The British bruisers are at the very top of the heavyweight heap – with WBC title holder Fury seen by many as the best of the bunch.
Joe Joyce and Tyson Fury at the the very top of the heavyweight heapCredit: INSTAGRAM@JOEJOYCEBOXING
Alen Babic has sparred with both Fury and JoyceCredit: INSTAGRAM@ALENTHESAVAGEBABIC
And the Croatian clubber reckons The Juggernaut is the tougher of the twoCredit: INSTAGRAM@ALENTHESAVAGEBABIC
Bridgerweight contender Alen Babic knows a thing or two about the pair having spent countless hours trading blows with them in the gym.
And the Croatian clubber believes Joyce’s toughness is second to none in the division.
He told talkSPORT: “I sparred Joe Joyce, we did close to 25 rounds in three days and I rate him the highest and I’ve sparred them all.
“I rate Joyce the highest because he’s a tough mother***er and he’s relentless, he has a good punch and I didn’t know that.
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“It doesn’t look like he has that powerful a punch, but his hands are very heavy, a heavy-handed guy.
“And he has an engine like myself, he doesn’t stop and he is double the size of me with the same engine, it’s crazy.”
He added: “I put Joyce on top of the list, the top two heavyweights.
“He is the toughest fight for anybody and he’s an Olympian so you can add that on top of the cake.”
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Joyce, 37, has been the most devastating heavyweight of the last three years – stopping Daniel Dubois, Carlos Takam, Christian Hammer and Joseph Parker in his last four outings.
But his destructive run hasn’t stopped former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua from entertaining a domestic dust-up with him.
Babic said of a potential Battle of Britain between the former sparring partners: “I think Joshua is very brave to take that fight.
“I think Joe Joyce is the dark horse of the heavyweight division and he is the toughest opponent for everybody, including Tyson Fury and [Oleksandr] Usyk, but I think Joe Joyce is the guy who should be feared.
“I’ve felt his power and we had crazy rounds, I think I did good, I maybe even snatched a few rounds.
“But sparring is my game, I am even better in sparring than in fights and Joe Joyce proved himself to the ‘Savage’ so I think Joshua is very brave to go after Joe Joyce.”
Interim WBO heavyweight champ Joyce will be back in action a week on Saturday against China’s Zhilei Zhang at the Copperbox Arena.
Joshua, meanwhile, will look to return to the ring in the summer following a scrappy points victory over Jermaine Franklin last weekend.
Anthony Joshuahas been warned against facing Joe Joyce nextCredit: RICHARD PELHAM More

ANTHONY JOSHUA has been urged to take two more “warm-up fights” before pursuing a clash with Tyson Fury.The Watford warrior re-opened the door for a blockbuster Battle of Britain with his long-time rival after his scrappy points win over Jermaine Franklin last weekend.
Anthony Joshua returned to the win column with a scrappy win over Jermaine FranklinCredit: RICHARD PELHAM
AJ opened the door to a domestic dust-up with Tyson Fury after the fightCredit: PA
Barry Hearn reckons he needs two more warm-up fights before facing The Gypsy KingCredit: PA
But the former unified heavyweight champion’s lacklustre display against the No.34-ranked American has many believing he’s not ready for The Gypsy King – including promoter Eddie Hearn’s dad, Barry.
The Matchroom Boxing founder told iFL TV: “In today’s world, the temptations for making that fight and earning a colossal amount of money may outweigh the old-fashioned common sense of people like me.
“Definitely [two more warm-up fights] – but we live in a commercial world.”
WBC heavyweight king Fury has – somewhat uncharacteristically – yet to comment on Joshua’s uninspiring return to the win column.
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But Barry believes he’ll be licking his lips at the prospect of fighting AJ after seeing his display against Franklin.
He said: “I would think that Tyson Fury would look at that performance and say ‘I am ready to fight him’, that takes a big obstacle away.
“He [Joshua] has to decide whether he wants to go for the big payday or if he wants to build and learn for a bit longer, in which case he needs two or three more warm-up fights.
“The public don’t like that, they are crying out for it, is it time to take the money? Maybe.”
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Joshua, 33, has no qualms about taking on Fury next, saying in his post-fight interview: “You know me, I like to provide for the fans.
“I know who the fans want. Who do the fans want? They said Fury?
“The ball is in his court, I will 100 per cent be honoured to compete for the WBC heavyweight championship of the world.
“I stand here and say that proudly, it would be an honour, so wherever you are if you’re listening.
Tyson Fury is currently without a fight after his bout with Oleksandr Usyk fell throughCredit: REUTERS
“You know my management, you know my promoter.
“We’ve had dialect before, so let’s continue this and hopefully we can get this on sooner rather than later. We ain’t getting any younger.”
Fury, 34, is currently without a fight following the collapse of his undisputed showdown with Oleksandr Usyk.
The pair were due to throw down for the all heavyweight marbles at Wembley on April 29 but Team Usyk pulled the plug on the fight after Fury kept moving the goalposts. More