Alex Arthur hailed Ken Buchanan as a trailblazer for Scottish boxers as hundreds of mourners turned out in Edinburgh to bid farewell to the late former world champion.
The funeral procession began in Leith and meandered its way past the former site of Sparta Boxing Club and the Ken Buchanan Statue on its way to St Giles’ Cathedral, where a memorial service was held for the 1971 undisputed world lightweight champion who died earlier this month aged 77.
As well as Edinburgh-born world super-featherweight champion Arthur, Tommy Gilmour, Jim Watt, John H Stracey, Barry McGuigan and commentator Steve Bunce were among the boxing personalities who turned out on a bright but cold day in Scotland’s capital to pay their respects.
World super-lightweight champion Josh Taylor — another Edinburgh fighter inspired by Buchanan — was unable to attend as he is preparing for his title fight against Teofimo Lopez in New York in June.
After leaving the service, Arthur said: “He’s not just a legend in boxing but also in public — the fact he has a statue says everything.
“You could see the turnout he got, the number of people that came to witness this and see him off as the legend he was. He did things that might not be done again in boxing and in sport.
“There’s a perception that once boxers are finished, nobody wants to know them any more.
“But everybody still wanted to be part of Ken’s life and I think that shows what kind of character he was.
“He was a massive inspiration to us all [Scottish boxers].
“The young ones have got a word nowadays — the OG, the original gangster — and Ken is the OG. He was the first one that did it.
“It was him, then it was me, now it’s Josh Taylor and hopefully there’s going to be more to come.”
source:livescore.com