Aziz Abdul is disqualified from the Commonwealth Games.
At this year’s edition of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, there was an interesting addition in the super-heavyweight boxing category.
That was Aziz Abdul, the grandson of the Ugandan military officer and dictator Idi Amin, whose murderous reign saw him claim up to an estimated 500,000 lives from 1971 to 1979.
Having such an individual as your relative can prove to be a very hard thing to distance yourself from. However, Abdul claimed that he was proud of his grandfather’s achievements in boxing, with Amin reportedly having been the Ugandan light-heavyweight champion.
Amin also possessed an odd liking for Scotland and its culture, an interest which saw him dub himself the “king of Scotland”, serving as the reason behind the naming of the 2006 historical drama The Last King of Scotland, in which Amin was portrayed by Forest Whitaker.
Regardless, Abdul sought to make his own name in Scotland by winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal, first having to get past England’s Damar Thomas in his first fight of the event.
However, despite his aspirations, Abdul would be disqualified after headbutting Thomas in the third round of a fight he was losing on the cards.
Following his disqualification, Abdul unleashed a verbal tyrade on the referee and refused to speak to a journalist of the Press Association afterwards, stating to the man, “No, not you. I don’t like you.”
A Ugandan team official then informed the journalist that this was because of things he had stated about Abdul’s grandfather.
Abdul also blamed the outcome of the fight on favouritism and racism, stating, “I’m a black African, I know. It’s God’s plan.” The 25-year-old, however, ultimately stated that he would be back.
Meanwhile, Damar Thomas advanced as a result of the victory, no matter what form it took.
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