Richard McTaggart

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Richard McTaggert (left) at the awards ceremony for the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome

Richard "Dick" McTaggart , MBE (born October 15, 1935 in Dundee , Scotland ) is a former British amateur boxer in the lightweight (57 to 60 kg) and light welterweight (60 to 63.5 kg).

Life

In 1956, he became an Olympic lightweight champion and was awarded the Val Barker Cup as the technically best boxer of the games. In addition, he won the Olympic bronze medal in lightweight in 1960 and became European champion in the same weight class the following year. He is also a 7-time Scottish champion, 5-time English champion and Commonwealth Champion from 1958.

Richard McTaggart grew up in Scotland with 17 siblings and started boxing at the age of 10. In the course of his boxing career, the southpaw won 610 of 634 fights and received 138 medals, trophies and plaques. The Dick McTaggart Sports Center in Dundee is named after him. Later he coached the Scottish national team in boxing and accompanied them at international tournaments, u. a. at the 1984 Olympics .

In 2002 he was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame , and in 2010 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Abertay Dundee for his sporting achievements .

Scottish, British and Commonwealth Championships

Richard McTaggart was Scottish Champion in 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964 and 1965. In 1956, 1958 and 1960 he was English light welterweight champion, and in 1963 and 1965 English light welterweight champion. In 1954 he lost to Dave Charnley in the English featherweight final. In 1962 he lost in the English lightweight final against Brian Whelan.

He won the 6th British and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff in 1958 , where he defeated the lightweight John Leckie from Australia, Thomas Donovan from New Zealand and Jim Jordan from Ireland.

At the 7th British and Commonwealth Games in Perth in 1962 , he won the silver medal in the light welterweight division. He won it against Geoff Rees from Wales and Harvey Reti from Canada before losing to Clement Quartey from Ghana in the final .

European championships

Between 1957 and 1965 he took part in all five European championships, in 1961 he won the gold medal in the lightweight at the 14th European championships in Belgrade . He had defeated Pertti Purhonen from Finland, Herbert Olesch from Germany, János Kajdi from Hungary and Peter Benedek from Yugoslavia.

At the 12th European Championships in Prague in 1957 , he won against Mihai Trancă from Romania, but then lost to the Scottish John Kidd. At the European Championships in Lucerne in 1959 , he lost the first duel to Gennadiy Kakoshkin from the Soviet Union.

At the European Championships in Moscow in 1963 and in Berlin in 1965 , he started each in the light welterweight division; In 1963 he defeated Jarmo Bergloef from Finland, but was subsequently beaten by the German Gerhard Dieter. In 1965 he was defeated by the multiple Austrian master Rupert König .

Olympic games

He was the first British boxer to take part in three Olympic Games; 1956 in Melbourne , 1960 in Rome and 1964 in Tokyo .

At the 16th Olympic Games in 1956 in Melbourne, Australia, he penetrated the lightweight final by winning against Chandrasena Jayasuriya from Sri Lanka, André Vairolatto from France and Anatoli Lagetko from the Soviet Union. There he defeated the German champion Harry Kurschat on points in an impressive fight and thus became the second British Olympic lightweight champion after Frederick Grace (1908). In addition, he was the only Briton so far to be awarded the Val Barker Cup as the most technically outstanding boxer of the games.

At the 17th Olympic Games in 1960 in the Italian capital Rome, he won against Bhodi Sooknoi from Thailand, Eddie Blay from Ghana and Ferenc Kellner from Hungary. Only in the semifinals he was defeated by the Poles Kazimierz Paździor and won the bronze medal in the lightweight.

At the 18th Olympic Games in 1964 in the Japanese capital Tokyo, he started in the light welterweight division. There he won in the first fight against the Australian Julian Rossi, but was defeated in the second duel by the Pole Jerzy Kulej .

Successes (selection)

  • Amateur record: 610 wins - 24 losses
  • Royal Air Force Champion: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958
  • Imperial Services Champion: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958
  • Allied Forces Champion: 1956
  • Britannia Shield: 1954, 1957
  • Duke of Hamilton Plaque: 1962
  • Scottish champion: 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965
  • English champion: 1956, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1965, second in 1954, 1962
  • British and Commonwealth Champion: 1958, runner-up 1962
  • European Champion: 1961
  • Olympic champion: 1956, third in 1960

Web links
personal data
SURNAME McTaggart, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thick
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British boxer
DATE OF BIRTH October 15, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Dundee