Tim Dement, Bossier City: Munich Games ’72

The Shreveport / Bossier area has certainly been well represented in Olympic competiton through the years (Hollis Conway, Kendrick Farris and Ryan Harrison to name three). But all the way back in 1972 at the Olympic Games in Munich, the ArkLaTex banner was carried by a 17-year-old boxer named Tim Dement.

Tim Dement was a baby faced, Bossier City kid who'd stunned the amateur boxing world in the '72 Olympic Trials by upsetting highly favored and hard hitting Bobby Hunter in the flyweight class (105 - 112 lbs). Dement's victory was so surprising that he was described in Sports Illustrated as "a pale, dreamy looking boy of 17 with no indication of any strength".

Then, it was off to Munich, where "little Timmy Dement of Boss-yay City, Louisiana", as Howard Cosell described him, faced two tough, older fighters. In his first match, Dement won a decision against Tunisia's Ale Gharbi, then lost a judge's call to Calixto Perez of Columbia. In the final flyweight standings, Dement finished 9th.

Today, Dement still resides in the Bossier area and is involved in training the regions top amateur boxers.