Tributes have been paid to legendary Dundee boxing hero Dick McTaggart, who has died aged 89.
He is regarded as the city’s greatest ever sportsman and famously won 610 out of 634 amateur contests.
McTaggart, raised in a Dens Road tenement in a family of 18 children, remains the only Scottish boxer to win Olympic gold.
His family confirmed to The Courier the Dundonian died in the early hours of Sunday.
A family statement said: “In loving memory of Dick McTaggart, a cherished husband, father, grandfather and friend.
“A true gentleman and legend in the boxing world.
“His kindness determination, humour and spirit will never be forgotten.
“He will be deeply missed but forever in our hearts. Rest peacefully.”
Dundee legend Dick McTaggart dies aged 89
McTaggart was raised in a Dens Road tenement as part of a large family – he was one of 18 siblings.
He was just 21 when he travelled to Melbourne to compete in the 1956 Olympics, where he won both the gold medal and the Val Barker Trophy as the most stylish boxer of the Games.
In an interview with The Courier, he recalled his parents meeting him in London as he returned from Australia.
He said: “They had never been on a plane before, but they had flown down to meet me specially.
“Then, when we got the train back to Dundee, thousands of people in the city turned out on the streets to welcome me home. It brought tears to my eyes.
“Fellow boxers John McVicar and Peter Cain hoisted me up on their shoulders and carried me up the stairs and out of the railway station.
“And then there were thousands of people who had lined the streets and were cheering.
“I couldn’t believe this was happening.
“We got in an open top motor and made the journey up to our house at Dens Road.
“It was unbelievable, but it was the greatest thing in the world.”
Legendary boxer Dick McTaggart ‘never forgot his Dundee roots’
A statue of McTaggart – standing nine foot tall – is on display at Dundee’s St Francis gym on Sugarhouse Wynd.
The club’s Norrie McVicar, whose dad John was there on McTaggart’s return to Dundee, said: “I hold dearly the picture of Dick McTaggart being carried out of Dundee railway station by Scottish teammates, my father Jock McVicar and Peter Cain, on his return from Melbourne after winning Gold and the Val Barker Trophy for best style boxer in the Olympics 1956.”
On behalf of St Francis Amateur Boxing Club, he said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Dick’s family and his many friends in the boxing world.
“Dick never forgot his roots or where he was from and did all that he could to help Dundee boxing clubs and their young stars to be.”
McTaggart was said to be “delighted” at the unveiling of the statue, commissioned by Scott Fyffe of Tealing-based Matrix Distribution.
He said: “The statue is a good likeness. It truly is a fantastic honour.
“I was born in Wilkie’s Lane, just off Hilltown, brought up in Dens Road and now my statue is situated in Beechwood.
“Hopefully, it will inspire the young boxers of today and the future.”
Dundee’s Dick McTaggart remembered as ‘titan of amateur boxing’
Fellow Dundee boxing legend Frank Gilfeather remembered McTaggart as a “titan of amateur boxing”.
He said: “The thing about Dick was despite his remarkable achievements he never lost his humility.
“His records were off the scale when you consider the amount of fights he fought.
“He was a titan of amateur boxing in the days when boxing was only second to football across the sports pages.
“Nobody in the UK will ever repeat what he did – any sportsman would be in awe of what he achieved.
“To go through all that and come out the other side with such humility is a testament to the man he was – he was, and still is a tremendous role model for young boxers.”
The Dick McTaggart Centre in Dundee opened in the early 1980s in celebration of the legendary boxer’s success.
Former DC Thomson journalist James Masson recalled interviewing him at the centre’s opening.
He said: “Three of the humblest men I interviewed were Denis Law, George Best – and Dick.
“I had the pleasure of chatting to Dick many times and, when the McTaggart Centre, named after him, was opened in Dundee, he wept, saying, ‘I don’t deserve this’.
“I said, ‘Yes you do Dick’, but he was truly humbled at the centre in his home city of Dundee being named after him.”
“As well as boxing at three Olympics, and winning gold and bronze medals at two them, Dick was also a British coach at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“The postcard he sent me from LA is one of my most treasured possessions.”
McTaggart was also a gold medal winner at the 1958 Cardiff Commonwealth Games, having declined offers to turn professional.
Two years later he competed at the Olympics in Rome but lost to eventual winner Kazimierz Pazdzior in the semi-final.
He returned home with a bronze medal.
McTaggart had no regrets about remaining an amateur, despite an offer of £1,000 from one promoter in the 1950s which “was a fortune in those days”.
He said: “I enjoyed boxing, but I never wanted it to become my job.
“I knew that I didn’t have many brains, but I wanted to keep the ones that I had.”
Councillor Lynne Short, Dundee Council spokesperson for sport, said McTaggart’s success “put Dundee on the map”.
She said: “He took our city to the world and inspired generations of young people across Dundee, where boxing is still part of the fabric.
“I’m thankful for everything he did to put Dundee on the map and his name will live on with the McTaggart Centre.
“My condolences go to the McTaggart family.”
‘Remarkable’
Lochee Amateur Boxing Club coach Jerry Howett said McTaggart was a regular feature at boxing shows in Dundee.
He told The Courier: “He used to come to the shows when he was fit and he would present trophies.
“What he did was remarkable. He was always brilliant with the kids when he visited and he always liked to come to the shows when he was able.
By 1962, McTaggart moved up a division, winning silver as a light welterweight at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth.
After another ABA (Amateur Boxing Association) title in 1963, he competed in his third Olympics, losing to the eventual winner in his third bout in Tokyo.
He managed a fifth and final ABA title in 1965 at the age of 30, before stepping out of the ring for the last time.
In retirement, he stayed with the sport as a coach, for Britain in the Olympics and Scotland in the Commonwealth Games.
McTaggart’s record of 634 bouts with 610 wins and only 24 losses led to him being placed sixth in a poll of the world’s all time top amateur boxers.
He was voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000 and was one of the inaugural inductees into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.
He was made an MBE in 2012 and received an honorary doctorate from Abertay University in 2010.
Mr McTaggart had latterly been living in Troon and battled dementia the last two years.
He is survived by his wife Doreen and their four daughters.
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