LONDON -- Ken Buchanan, the 38-year-old former world lightweight champion, knocked out London's Johnny Claydon Tuesday in the seventh round of the Scot's unlicensed comeback bout.
Buchanan finished the scheduled eight-rounder unscathed, delighting the crowd with some of his old style and class.
But Ilford Palais, on the outskirts of London, is a far cry from New York's Madison Square Garden, where 13 years ago he won the world title.
For Buchanan, it was the start of a second 'comeback.' He first retired in 1975 after retaining the European lightweight title with a 12th-round knockout of Giancarlo Usai in Cagliari, Italy.
The Scot should have stuck by his decision to end his glittering career on a high note, but like others before him, he has been forced into embarrassing returns to the ring.
He came back the first time in 1978, and in three years lost four of his eight fights.
'Aye, it's sad, and I certainly don't feel pride,' says the man whose style and class in his heyday brought roars of approval from the most cynical of crowds. 'I sometimes look around and think, 'What am I doing?' But I know really. I'm trying to earn money the only way I know how, to pay off a $7,500 debt.
'But I want to stress I'm not broke. I'm not down-and-out. I've not boozed (drunk) all my money away. I'm just in debt, and I've got to get out of it.'
But it is going to take three or four fights on unlicensed cards for the former world champion to claw back that money.
