Fred Dyer
| Fred Dyer | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Statistics | |
| Real name | Frederick William O'Dwyer |
| Nickname(s) | The Singing Boxer, Young Dyer |
| Rated at | Welterweight |
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Nationality | British |
| Born |
29 April 1888 Cardiff, Wales |
| Died | unknown |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 72 |
| Wins | 44 |
| Wins by KO | 14 |
| Losses | 20 |
| Draws | 6 |
| No contests | 2 |
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.
Dyer was born in 1888 in Cardiff, Wales to a Welsh mother and Irish father. Dyer's mother came from a musical background and was a member of the Royal Welsh Glee, while his father was a bare knuckle boxer. Dyer showed promise as a baritone singer and was trained by Clara Novello Davies, mother of Ivor Novello. He was also an impressive sportsman, as a swimmer and, like his father, a boxer; but his family's poverty decreed that he took up boxing over his singing to provide an income. Dyer fought in the travelling show booths for quick money, but when this was discovered by the amateur boxing association, it led to him being stripped of his amateur status, which in turn saw his hopes of competing at the 1908 Summer Olympics in boxing and in swimming dashed.
Dyer turned professional in either 1909 or 1910. Boxrec record his first fight in July 1909 against Jack Delaney, a boxer who Dyer would challenge in 1913 for the Wales welterweight title. Boxing magazine reported in January 1910 that his fight against future British and European welterweight champion Johnny Basham was Dyer's debut fight. Both fights are recorded as victories for Dyer, but the fight against Basham, held in Newport on New Year's Day 1910, was reportedly held back to late at night to allow Dyer to fulfill matinee and evening singer engagements in Stoll's Panopticon in St. Mary's Street, Cardiff.
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