March 2024

Standing at a touch under 5ft 10inches, McTaggart, not only had a height advantage over most of his opponents at lightweight and light welterweight, but he also had the added advantage/awkwardness of being a southpaw. Or as McTaggart said, "I write with my right, but fight with my left. Although, the right isn’t bad also!"

In 1953, McTaggart joined the RAF, which was when his interest and ability in boxing rapidly shifted through the gears. Whilst becoming the Armed Forces champion five years on the bounce, McTaggart was also accumulating a host of other plaudits which would help to immortalise his activity in the ring. It’s also worth mentioning – between his brothers, they won national titles in all three of the armed forces.

McTaggart won his first ABA title in April 1956 against fellow Scot, Eddie Kane, which acted as the springboard for his selection onto Team GB for the Olympics later that year in Melbourne, Australia. McTaggart recalled his trip Down Under. "They are great memories for me. It took a few days to get there from Scotland with planes and a lot of buses, but winning the gold was well worth it. Harry Kurschat (from West Germany) was a well known fighter and I did well to beat him on points. I was nervous, but I won - so I couldn’t have been nervous for that long!" Kurschat died in 2022 at the age of 91.

The night wasn’t over yet for McTaggart as he explained. "Later on, I found out that I’d won the Val Barker Trophy, which was given to the Best Boxing Stylist of the Olympic Games each year. When I found out, that was simply fantastic.

All the boxers were there from the British team and the boys were all pleased for me." Dick laughs before jokingly adding, "I deserved it, anyway!" To this day, McTaggart is still the only British boxer ever to be awarded the accolade.

Dick recalled the heroes welcome once landing back on Scottish soil. "When I came off the train, there were hundreds of people waving on the street, all the way to where I lived. I won’t lie, I had tears rolling down my cheeks. That’s something I’ll never forget."

Dick was serving in the RAF at the time of winning the gold medal, and consequently, the RAF Museum at Hendon created a tribute to Dick with photographs about him being the only person in the RAF to win Olympic gold.

Moving the clock forward four years, in 1960, McTaggart competed at his second Olympics, in Rome. Dick’s local boxing club, presented the champ with a lovely robe which featured Dundee ABC and his name on the back, and the Olympic rings on the front. He was also given a new pair of boxing boots, all of which he wore with pride in Italy. Unfortunately, controversy scuppered his chance of gold again. McTaggart recalled. "It was good going again, representing my country at the Olympics, but in was never a split decision. I won that hands down and was definitely robbed (against Kazimierz Padzior of Poland). I guess I did take home another medal though, so that’s not a bad thing." McTaggart did however pick up his third ABA title the very same year, not to mention a number of overseas victories, against stiff opposition.

Not one to hang around, McTaggart entered the world of coaching boxers, including the Scottish team. On one occasion, in 1966, McTaggart took a Scottish squad to Moscow and the night before there was an hour long documentary on Russian television all about him. Let’s just say he was well respected during his stay out there.

Travelling around the world as the national team boxing coach during the 80’s and 90’s, McTaggart recalled the time stamp. "I was national coach for a number of years and I enjoyed it very much and everyone behaved themselves, which was good! It was great to be able to pass on my knowledge and see these fighters do something with it."

His efforts to his beloved homeland didn’t go unnoticed, as McTaggart received an MBE in 1985 for services to amateur boxing in Scotland. Dick recalled. "It was lovely. What an honour to receive it from the Queen, who was lovely, but my wife Doreen (married since 1966) was also very pleased and had a great day. It was all very humbling."

McTaggart’s plaudits continued as he was voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000 and then in 2002 inducted into the Scottish Boxing Hall of Fame. Then in 2012, McTaggart was a guest of honour at the Olympic games in London. Ray Caulfield provided some warming memories. "Prior to the start of the Olympic boxing finals in London, a compere was talking to the crowd and I gave him a short resume of Dick’s achievements, which he then went on to read out. Well, the whole arena gave Dick a standing ovation. I had 100 of Dick’s record cards with me and only came home with about five or six."

Then just when you thought McTaggart’s popularity couldn’t get any bigger, Ray provided the next level of anecdotal colour. "Wladimir Klitschko came over to the table in the arena where Dick and I were sitting and asked to see Dick’s gold Medal. They had photographs taken together and he sat with Dick and I throughout the finals. Then, I asked Lennox Lewis if Dick could have his picture taken with him and he replied, ‘No – BUT, could I have my picture taken with Dick?"

McTaggart’s duties weren’t over yet. With fond memories of winning Commonwealth gold in 1958 in Cardiff (better known as British Empire gold back then) and silver in Perth in 1962, McTaggart handed out medals at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 in Glasgow to the lightweight winners, with great pride.

Currently Scotland’s only ever Olympic champion, Dundee’s favourite fighting son collected the Lifetime Achievement Award in Edinburgh, at the Team Scotland Sports Awards in 2019. With a sports centre named after him in Dundee and nominated as Britain’s No1 Amateur boxer of all time by Boxing News, would he change anything? McTaggart laughed, then answered, "I’d like a rematch with Dave Charnley. He beat me! I lost in the 1954 ABA’s in the featherweight division. I improved later on, but Dave’s a good lad and the better man won that night. I guess I would have liked the opportunity to fight him again. However, when I look back, you have to always remember, ‘Some you win, some you lose.’ There’s no point on dwelling on it. When I started boxing, I had no ambitions in the sport. If someone had told he how far I would go, I wouldn’t have believed them. I have no complaints."