Ken Buchanan MBE

Ken Buchanan, MBE, was born in Edinburgh on 28th June 1945 and is widely considered the greatest boxer Scotland has ever produced and one of the very best from Britain. Ken was born and raised in Edinburgh, where his family lived in a modest council house.

Ken has always said he would have won nothing without his dad's support. Tommy, Ken's dad, was at his son's side every moment of the journey, which saw him become arguably Scotland's greatest ever boxer. Tommy passed on at the age of 97, on the 7th July 2012 and Ken's mum Cathy died of cancer, aged 51 in 1968. Ken often said, "I'm lucky because I had a great father and a great mother, so I have nothing to complain about."

My own father, Bill, was a very good amateur boxer in his day and also served in the Army, like me, in the Black Watch. He had boxed Ken as an amateur twice, but sorry to say he lost on both occasions. Ken always used to say he had some hard fights with my dad and he presented me with an original boxing poster from one of the bouts, which I still have to this day. He also gave me an amateur boxing record card with my dad's name on it, which is now framed and hangs on my wall. My mum, Nancy, worked alongside Ken's mum, Cathy, in Woolworths shop as a cleaner, so yes, our family ties go way back.

It was whilst serving, in the years 1985-86, as an assistant physical training instructor at the Scottish infantry training depot Glencorse, just South of Edinburgh, that I first met Ken. We have become great friends over the subsequent years leading to me writing a book about our friendship.