Veteran British boxing commentator Reg Gutteridge said in 2002: "Laguna was an outstanding fighter at the time. Before the fight, I thought Laguna would beat him to be honest. It's very hard to win away like that. I know that the crowd shouldn't be that much of an influence but they normally are."
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However, the WBC refused to sanction this title and were backed by the British Boxing Board, who refused to recognise their own man as world champion. To add to Buchanan's feelings of rejection he returned to Edinburgh to be welcomed by a crowd of five.
But the following year he beat Ruben Navarro in Los Angeles, and was finally recognised as boxing's world lightweight champion. This time Buchanan was hailed by crowds at Edinburgh Airport and journeyed into town on an open-top bus, with throngs of crowds cheering him on.
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After 13 rounds, Buchanan felt he was finally ahead on points after the two fighters being level throughout. Instead in a few moments, which Buchanan said in his autobiography were to haunt him for the rest of his life, he lost his title after he was punched below the belt after the bell had sounded for the end of the round, which floored him. Such was the force of the punch that his testicles were permanently damaged.
The referee, Tony Lobianco didn't punish the foul but awarded the bout to Duran as he decided that Buchanan couldn't continue, without asking if he could go on. It was the referee's one and only title fight and Buchanan described the punch as: "That one late blow went a long way to destroying my career."
The way he lost his world title has become an obsession for the Scot, especially as he never got his promised rematch against Duran, who went on to become one of the sport's biggest stars. But the Panamanian later told Scottish sports writer Hugh McIlvanney that Buchanan was his best opponent in all of his many years in the ring.
Eventually Buchanan retired on the advice of his doctor because of the damage to his left eye over the years, which meant he would always have to wear glasses. With his customary energy, he threw himself into the hospitality business, opening the Ken Buchanan Hotel in Edinburgh.
Unfortunately his personal life took a downturn when his wife divorced him. He had to sell the hotel to pay for the settlement and returned to his original trade as a joiner. But Buchanan missed the ring and returned in an unsuccessful postscript to his career.
In his autobiography he wrote: "If I was a runner, that would have been OK. I could run marathons and go in for age-group championships. But I was a boxer and all that matters in boxing is what you can do in the ring."
Jim Watt, who Buchanan defeated in Glasgow to win Watt's British title in 1973 said in 2002: "Ken probably doesn't have the adulation he deserves. He had a wonderful career with world class achievements, but everything was done elsewhere."
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