CANASTOTA, N.Y. -- From the age of 8, Ken Buchanan never wanted to be anything but a boxer. Once he started fighting, his dream was to become a world champion. He never imagined, though, he would become one of boxing's immortals.

"I could die tomorrow and I would die a happy guy. This is the icing on the cake," Buchanan said in a telephone interview from Scotland on his selection Thursday to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

"All I ever wanted to be was a boxer," said Buchanan, a lightweight champion who was among a dozen former ring greats and boxing personalities selected for induction June 11.

Buchanan was one of four boxers chosen in the modern category. Also honored were bantamweight champion Joltin Jeff Chandler from Philadelphia and middleweight king Carl "Bobo" Olson from Hawaii. Selected posthumously was lightweight champion Jimmy Carter (81-30-8, 31 knockouts).

Buchanan, Chandler and Olson were joined as living inductees by Argentine promoter Tito Lectoure, who will be enshrined in the non-participant category.

Hall of Fame Executive Director Edward Brophy said the 11th class of inductees reflected the museum's international scope.

Buchanan is the first living Scottish boxer to make it into the hall of fame. The only other Scottish boxer so honored was flyweight champion Benny Lynch, who was enshrined posthumously in 1998 in the Old-Timers category.

Buchanan's boxing career began when when his father sneaked him into an Edinburgh boxing club. Even though he was underweight, Buchanan won the club championship in his division -- and was forever hooked.

"I had two fights in one night to win that championship. Imagine that," said Buchanan, who finished his career with a record of 62-8, with 27 knockouts. before retiring in 1983. "For an 8-year-old, it was the biggest thrill. I knew there and then that boxing was my forte. That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a world champion."

Buchanan turned professional in 1965 and within three years he had claimed both the Scottish and British lightweight titles.

On Sept. 26, 1970, the clever boxing Scot outpointed Ismael Laguna over 15 rounds to win the WBA lightweight title. The fight took place outdoors on a sunny afternoon in Puerto Rico when the temperature was over 100 degrees, Buchanan recalled.

"It was the hardest fight I've ever had in my life, having to fight him and the weather," he said.

After successfully defending his crown twice, Buchanan signed to meet Roberto Duran in Madison Square Garden on June 26, 1972. Duran scored a controversial 13th round technical knockout to win the title when he landed a blow at the belt that appeared to be low.

"I wasn't very much in the fight. I was boxing the wrong fight. I should have been boxing head-up instead of bobbing and weaving," Buchanan said. "But he never hurt me with a punch."

In his return to the ring, Buchanan defeated Hall of Famer Carlos Ortiz, also attempting a comeback. He challenged for the WBC lightweight title in 1975 but lost a 15-round decision to Ishimatsu Suzuki in Japan.

Chandler, a slick boxer who turned professional after only two amateur bouts, won the WBA bantamweight title in 190- and defended it successfully nine times. A brilliant counter puncher, Chandler successfully defended the title nine times before he was stopped in the 15th round by Richard Sandoval in 1984. Chandler finished with a record of 33-2-2 with 18 knockouts.

Olson -- the first Hawaiian boxer among the hall's 220 members -- compiled a 98-16-2 record, with 48 knockouts, before retiring in 1966. In 1953, he won both the American and world middleweight titles. He fought Sugar Ray Robinson four times but never won. However, he did record victories over Hall of Famers Joey Maxim and Kid Gavilan.

Lectoure is regarded as South America's premier boxing promoter and matchmaker who worked with such ring stars as Ortiz, Kid Gavilan, Carlos Monzon and Emile Griffith. Other inductees in the Non-participant category were early 20th century promoter Jeff Dickson and manager Dan Morgan.

The hall's international panel of boxing writers and historians also selected inductees in a pioneer class that recognizes individuals from prior to 1892 and in an old-timers category that honors those involved in the sport in the era between 1893-1942.