Aziz Abdul, the grandson of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, failed to make it through in the super-heavyweight quarter-finals of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after arriving with such grand ambitions at the international multi-sport event and declared himself the "new king of Scotland," something which is an odd and bizarre reference to his famous grandfather who once fantasized about becoming the king of Scotland in 1976 and was in a bizarre obsession with the country that later inspired an Oscar-winning film. But Abdul’s tournament was halted when he was jeered out of the ring and disqualified against England’s Damar Thomas.
The fight was an anxious one for Abdul when the Ugandan fighter sat in frustration. Abdul tried to get in early on and landed three sweeping left hooks in the opening round, but eventually the contest turned against him when a sharp, snapping left hand from Thomas struck Abdul flush and the referee counted Abdul down to a standing count. Abdul’s discipline was unraveling as the rounds got tougher, and during the second round he ducked and threw his head and threw his body into Thomas’s face as the two fighters fought for clinches.
As the match slipped away on the judges' scorecards and got so close, the fight took a chaotic turn in the third and final round. With Abdul caught in a desperate exchange, he turned his head back up to give a blatant headbutt to Thomas’ chin. The illegal blow drew jeers and boos and triggered the referee’s third warning and disqualified him immediately with less than a minute left on the clock.
Abdul, who refused to accept the result, went on a tirade against official decision makers for the rest of the night and claimed the judge was biased. To reporters in the mixed zone, the disqualified boxer claimed that English fighters often escape punishment for infractions and claimed outside forces had influenced the result. His headbutt, even though the referee confirmed that it was done and on camera as per protocol, was an accident and Abdul told us that he had only a single option, a knockout, and it was his only chance to win from the beginning of the fight with a fighter who was on his home soil.
Although Thomas went on to the next round and received a medal, Abdul’s dramatic exit was a turbulent and controversial end to a legacy-driven quest, and the book was closed on an unforgettable and stormy night of Commonwealth boxing.
