The gifted Edinburgh boxer did so in 1970 when he defeated Ismael Laguna, of Panama, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, by dint of a points win, to secure the World Boxing Association lightweight title.
Now Ricky Burns must match Buchanan’s feat after it was confirmed yesterday that the 26-year-old from Coatbridge will challenge Puerto Rican Roman Martinez for his World Boxing Organisation crown on March 6.
The fact that the WBO’s headquarters are based in that country adds to the magnitude of Burns’ task following his manager Alex Morrison’s decision to sign a five-figure contract giving Martinez home advantage.
Morrison rejected an earlier offer from the Martinez camp of £50,000 tax-free, but he revealed that the new deal is worth substantially more.
“We would obviously prefer that the fight was taking place in Scotland but it proved impossible to put together an attractive enough package to persuade Martinez to come here,” said Morrison.
Burns, for his part, insisted: “Fighting away from home holds no fears for me. That takes all the pressure off me and lets me get on with what I have to do.
“But I will have to go out and win much more clearly to get the verdict than if the fight was happening in Glasgow. I will either have to stop him or win every round convincingly because, if it’s close, Martinez having home advantage could go against me.
“But I have boxed away from home in the past and handled it and I know that I have the tools in the bag to beat Martinez. I watched his fight with Nicky Cook, when he won the title last March, and Cook was beating him until he decided to stand and trade punches.
“I won’t make the same mistake. My trainer, Billy Nelson, and I sat down and had a chat about the best way to approach this fight and we have been working on my speed and movement.”
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