Fred Davis

Fred Davis was a frequent participant in amateur catch-as-catch-can (freestyle) wrestling events in the London area in the early 1900s, as a member of the Hammersmith Amateur Wrestling Club. The winner of an amateur title in 1906 and 1907, Davis represented his country at the 1908 Olympics in the bantamweight class, losing in the quarter-final to eventual bronze medallist, the Canadian Aubert Côté. He later received a certificate of special merit for his performance at the games.

Following the Olympics, Davis resided in France and Spain where he was an early proponent of freestyle wrestling, participating in many exhibition matches in the Paris area. He won another amateur championship title there in 1910 and also was involved in boxing. Still residing abroad in 1912, he was mentioned by British newspapers as a likely member of the British wrestling delegation to the Stockholm Olympics, but ultimately did not end up attending. Davis moved back to the London area in the following years and took up residence in Twickenham by the mid-1920s. He continued to be involved in the sport as an official and referee, well into the 1930s.

Davis was born in Liverpool, the son of shoe and boot maker. His father died when he was a year old, and the family moved to the St Pancras area of London by 1891 where he was raised alongside his four siblings. A produce merchant by occupation, Davis married a woman from France during his residency there, with whom he had one daughter. Upon his return to England, he remarried in the late 1920s and had another two children. Later, he worked as a factory manager before retiring to Hounslow, London.