Fred Dyer

Fred Dyer
Born
Frederick William O'Dwyer[1]

(1888-04-29)29 April 1888
Cardiff, Wales
Diedunknown
NationalityBritish
Other namesThe Singing Boxer, Young Dyer
Statistics
Weight(s)Welterweight
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Boxing record
Total fights72
Wins44
Wins by KO14
Losses20
Draws6
No contests2

Fred Dyer born Frederick William O'Dwyer (29 April 1888 – date of death unknown), was a Welsh boxing champion, boxing manager and baritone singer. Trained by vocal teacher Clara Novello Davies, Dyer was famed for singing to audiences after he had fought in a contest and was nicknamed 'The Singing Boxer'.

In 1913 Dyer was briefly Wales welterweight champion when he beat Jack Delaney, who won the belt back just six weeks later. During his professional career Dyer took two overseas tours, to Australia from 1914 to 1915 and the United States from 1916 to 1919. Due to the time spent in Australia, he became eligible to contest for national titles, unsuccessfully challenging Les Darcy for the welterweight belt in 1915. The highpoint of his time in America, then during the 'no decision' era, was a win over Panama Joe Gans. Due to a knee injury, Dyer was refused active service during the First World War; instead he was recruited into the United States Army as a boxing instructor.

After retiring from fighting Dyer ran various boxing gyms in London, successfully managing British flyweight champion Bert Kirby. Dyer then became a physical culture coach and was at the forefront of a diet fad in the 1920s based on fruit and vegetable drinks. Little is known of his life after the Second World War and he faded into anonymity.

  1. ^ "Singing Boxer Renders Knockout, then a Song". Dubuque Telegraph-Herald. 24 April 1919. Retrieved 12 April 2012.