Fred Tiedt who died on June 16th, at the age of 63 gave his verdict of his 1956 fight with Nicholea Linca. "Anyone who has ever fought at top level knows whether he has won or lost a fight and I know that I won that final." The late Arthur McWeeney, in his time one of Ireland's bestknown and most distinguished sports journalists, had watched the Olympic welterweight boxing final at the stadium in Olympic Park, Melbourne, on Saturday, December 2nd, 1956. In the following day's Sunday Independent he wrote at length on the fight between Fred Tiedt of Ireland and Nicholea Linca of Romania and his opinion of the outcome was perhaps incisively contained in just two sentences: "Fred Tiedt was the victim of the worst decision of the championships. The manner in which the verdict was given against him was a travesty of justice and bordered on the lunatic fringe." It was a harsh condemnation of the result but Arthur McWeeney was far from being alone in his assessment of that final.
The late Nat Fleischer, the founder, publisher and editor of the now legendary Ring magazine, wrote: "It was a fantastic verdict which neither officials nor spectators could defend."
In the years that followed, Fred Tiedt never harboured any bitterness about the appalling decision that had robbed him of the gold medal and, indeed, he rarely talked about the Olympic final. For him the trip to Melbourne in 1956 had been a wonderfully exciting and glorious experience which gave him an abundance of cherished sporting memories. In 1952 and then just 17, he made his international debut for Ireland and he celebrated it with a decisive win in Glasgow over the Scottish champion, Charlie Hill, who was later to become a British professional champion.
Perhaps surprisingly, in the light of his appearances for Ireland at international level, Fred Tiedt was still without an Irish title when he made the trip to Melbourne in 1956. In that year's National Championships he was beaten by his enduring rival, Harry Perry, who was later to become a very dear and valued friend. But clearly there were those in the Irish Amateur Boxing Association who believed that Mr Tiedt was worthy of further Olympic consideration.
A further trial was arranged for the National Stadium and this time Fred Tiedt won and made sure of his adventure to Australia. He was happier when he learned that Harry Perry would also share the trip. Fred Tiedt would box in the welterweight division and Perry would drop down to the light-welterweight division.
In his first bout in the Olympics Fred Tiedt was drawn against Tadeusz Walasek, the Polish champion, already regarded as one of the finest boxers in Europe and generally accepted as a likely Olympic gold medal winner. But Walasek was never really in the reckoning with the Irishman. Fred Tiedt, a consummate stylist with superb footwork and a thoroughly effective left jab, was on top throughout the three rounds and went on to collect a unanimous decision.
Fred Tiedt came up against the American champion, Pearce Lane, in the Olympic quarter-finals and a little to most people's surprise, he was regarded as the outsider. This was almost certainly due to the fact that prior to the games, Lane had been given lavish publicity not just alone in his native America but also in Australia. As it transpired Fred Tiedt hardly had to exert himself to dispose of the American. He established a mastery in the opening round and long before the finish he was guaranteed another unanimous decision.
The semi-final brought Fred Tiedt in against the local favourite, the Australian champion Kevin Hogarth who, like the Irishman, had come through his preliminary bouts in stylish fashion. Fred Tiedt began cautiously and used the first round to find the measure of the Australian. Once he had absorbed that he went in constant attack and at the end was given his third unanimous decision.
By now Fred Tiedt was everyone's favourite to win an Olympic gold medal and the general feeling was that he would be far too strong, far too clever for the Romanian Nicholea Linca, in the final. By all accounts it seemed that Fred Tiedt was in complete command of the fight all through . . . but the verdict, announced after a long delay, was given to Linca and the immediate reaction in the stadium was one of total disbelief. There was disapproval on all sides and the uproar continued unabated until the playing of the Romanian national anthem at the victory ceremony. Subsequently the markings of the judges were revealed. Italy and Germany had voted for Fred Tiedt, Korea and Britain scored the bout equal but gave their votes to Linca; Poland also voted in favour of Linca. The extraordinary feature of the points total however was that it was in favour of Fred Tiedt by 299 to 297.
Fred Tiedt was just 21 when he took his Olympic silver medal and his days in Melbourne were the most memorable of his long career in sport. In the season following the games he won his first Irish title and then, in 1958, he made the decision to go professional but despite the impressive promise he showed in his early bouts he was never really at ease in the paid ranks and early in the 1960s he announced his retirement.
His passion for boxing never waned and he found further expression for it when he became coach and trainer to The Trinity Boxing Club. For many years he devoted himself with delight and enthusiasm to the succession of youngsters who came under his care and who came to appreciate and enjoy the interest he showed in them, both in their boxing and in their studies. And, indeed, few things in sport matched his delight when it was announced that in recognition of his time with the boxing club, he was to be made an honorary member of the Knights of the Campanile.
Fred Tiedt: born 1936; died June 1999