Tributes have been paid to former Olympic boxing champion Dick McTaggart following the Scot’s death at the age of 89. Mr McTaggart is widely regarded as the best amateur boxer in British history, winning 610 of his 634 fights. The Dundee-born fighter won the lightweight title at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne and remains the only Scottish boxer to have collected a gold medal. He also received the Val Barker Trophy for the best overall boxer of the tournament. He is the only British boxer to compete at three Olympics, also winning bronze in 1960 as well claiming a gold and silver for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. He was voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2000. He also completed his National Service with the RAF in the 1950s, where he won five RAF titles and four UK Armed Forces championships. A statement from Commonwealth Games Scotland read: “Everyone at Commonwealth Games Scotland was saddened to learn of the passing of boxing legend Dick McTaggart MBE. “Widely regarded as Dundee’s greatest ever sportsman, McTaggart won Commonwealth Games gold and silver medals as part of a remarkable amateur career, winning 610 of 634 bouts. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.” One of his vanquished opponents, French boxer, Andre Vairolatto, said: “He moves like a ballet dancer. A ballet dancer with dynamite in his fists. It is a privilege to lose to such a boxer. He is right there in front of you until the precise second you prepare to unleash a punch, then – poof! – he has vanished. You only realise that he is still there in the ring with you when his fists land on your chin.” Friends and former colleagues of Mr McTaggart took to social media to pay tribute to him. Brian Feeney said: “Rest in peace, Dick McTaggart, and thank you. Dick ran our Boxing Club at Crookston Castle School, until the bigwigs decided you needed to be a professional to teach.” Patrick Joyce, who went to Mr McTaggart’s former primary school, St Mary's Forebank Primary School in Dundee, said he remembered a letter being read out to pupils when Mr McTaggart was first selected for the Olympics. He said: “A genuine class act in and out of the ring.” Brian Hammond said: “I remember waiting at Tay Bridge Station along with hundreds of others when he returned from the Melbourne Olympics in 1956. We paraded him up the streets. What a night that was. I'll never forget it. Dick McTaggart. A true Dundee legend.”