Scottish Olympic Gold Medalist Dick McTaggart Dies at 89, Best British Amateur Boxer At the Time
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Glascow, Scotland (March 12th, 2025)– Dick McTaggart, who won Scotland’s only Olympic Boxing Gold Medal at Melbourne in 1956 as a lightweight as the Olympic Val Barker Trophy, earned an Olympic Bronze in 1960, and who competed in 1964 Olympics as a light welterweight but lost to the eventual Gold medalist Jersy Kulej, has passed away in Scotland at age 89.
McTaggart, who never turned pro, won 610 of 634 amateur bouts. McTaggart won the British ABA amateur title in 1956, 1958, 1960, 1963 and 1965, before retiring at age 30.
McTaggart was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1985 Birthday Honors, for services to amateur boxers in Scotland.
In retirement, McTaggart worked as a boxing coach, and prepared the Scottish team for the 1986 Commonwealth Games, and the 1990 Commonwealth Games. In 2000, McTaggart was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, as the first British and Scottish boxer to box in three Olympics. In 2002, he was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. His four brothers were also amateur boxers.
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