My name is Raymond Fraser Buchanan; I am the first son of Ken Buchanan M.B.E and his only son to have graced the ring in earnest.
I have followed boxing for 44 years and out of curiosity I took up boxing just before my 17th birthday.
A gentleman called Bob Scally - who was a former professional Scottish Heavyweight Champion and chief sparring partner to Welsh great Tommy Farr, who was British and Empire Champion and went 15 rounds with the great Joe Louis , a fight that many thought Tommy Farr may have got the verdict – he taught me how to box. Incidentally, it was Bob Scally who first discovered a wee boy from Edinburgh called Alex Arthur, who went on to become Champion of the World. Sadly Bob passed away on the 2nd of January 2000.
I had my first fight just after my 17th birthday and less than eight months later Bob Scally asked me to turn professional, in Bob’s own words, he said about me, “He’s a natural and has the heart for it”.
When I was 19 years old my dad wanted to get in the boxing ring with me, he was in training for another comeback fight and there was only 2 pound a difference in weight when we weighed in behind closed doors at the once famous Sparta Boxing Club in Edinburgh’s, Leith Walk. My dad was the time keeper and I noticed on the big clock above the ring that the rounds fluctuated between 3-6 minutes and after 10 of my dad’s rounds while I was standing in my corner looking down the gym at the paintings of my dad, my grandfather and manager Eddie Thomas when he won the World Title, I just felt these arms being thrown round my shoulders, I turned round to see my dad in tears saying “You’ve got what it takes son”. My dad later went on to ask me to turn professional.
Back in the 80’s while I was in London, England, for the most part of a year, I had a good chat with boxing manager Terry Lawless, at the Royal Oak gym in Canning Town. In my opinion Terry was the best manager in Britain at the time and he was a gem of a bloke; he was renowned for taking Frank Bruno to win the World Heavyweight Title, he also steered Scotland’s Gentleman Jim Watt to World Title glory. I had a very meaningful conversation with Terry about the professional game, he was a very clever man who had a very cunning approach in getting his point over, I’ll never forget the words Terry used, “Could you get down to middleweight Ray”. Sadly Terry passed away on the 24th of December 2009.
Way back then there was far too many distractions for me to concentrate on one thing, I was happy enough being a joiner and not having to worry about my weight.
Fast forward to 2006 when I was approached by a friend of mine Diane Taylor; she gave me a DVD of her son’s last amateur fight and asked if I could help in any way. After watching the DVD I immediately knew I could help him, this resulted in me meeting up with a wee 15 year old boy from Prestonpans, East Lothian, Scotland, called Josh Taylor. We bonded straight away; he started calling me Mickey, after the trainer in the Rocky films and I started calling him Champ. I took Josh to his first Scottish Title and British finals, I knew this kid was special; he went on to win a Silver Medal at the Commonwealth Games in Deli and was Scotland’s only member of the Great Britain Boxing Team at the Olympic Games in London 2012. Josh is now boxing for the British Lionhearts in the inaugural World Series Boxing competition where fights are fought over 5 rounds with no head guard or vest and rounds are scored using the professional scoring system.
I have a passion for writing and after 44 years following the sport of boxing it’s a conceivable marriage I wish to pursue.
I love interviewing boxers and turning it into a story that may delve much deeper than boxing. I would also like to report on boxing shows from grassroots and upwards. This is all I can say at the moment, who knows what the future will hold.