Watch as Aziz Abdul is disqualified for headbutt against England's Damar Thomas amid THREE warnings - 'Blatant disregard of the rules!'
Updated 30/07/2026 at 12:37 GMT+1
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The first boxing disqualification of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games came in extraordinary fashion, after a ”blatant” headbutt and ”disregard for the rules” by Uganda's Aziz Abdul against England's Damar Thomas.
Watch: Abdul disqualified for 'blatant headbutt' against Thomas
Video credit: TNT Sports
Abdul was disqualified after pushing his head into the chin of Thomas as they grappled in the third round of the quarter-final fight at the Games.
The 25-year-old had already been warned twice, and the third foul brought an early end to the fight.
”Oh dear me,” went the TNT Sports commentary.
”He [Abdul] has pushed off his feet and launched beneath Damar Thomas’ chin and that is a blatant headbutt in the face of the referee. That is his third warning and he has been disqualified.
”It’s our first disqualification of Glasgow 2026 and it was a blatant disregard for the rules.
"That’s why he was warned in the second round for hitting after the command of stop and that is simply not allowed in the sport of boxing.”
Aziz had lost the first round 10-8 on all three of the judges' scorecards and was then warned in the second for continuing to punch Thomas as they broke from a hold.
His frustration appeared to get the better of him as he was disqualified in the final round.
Thomas will fight Northern Ireland’s Willie John McCartan in the semi-finals on Friday.
”I got the job done,” said the 21-year-old. ”He was running at me with his head. There was a bit of ring rust from me, but it is what it is.”
Asked what he had expected from the fight, Thomas said: ”Literally that. I didn’t expect anything else.”
Thomas is aiming to become the fourth consecutive English winner of +90kg gold at the Games.
Four years ago it was Delicious Orie who topped the podium, while before him it was Frazer Clarke and Joe Joyce, both of whom have gone on to top-level heavyweight careers.
Meanwhile there was excellent sportsmanship shown in the men’s boxing 70kg quarter-finals by Wales’ Orlando Holley-Sotomi.
Holley-Sotomi knocked out Lesotho’s Refiloe Thai with a flush right hand, but rather than celebrate, his immediate attention was on the wellbeing of his opponent.
Thai did eventually sit up on the stretcher before rising to his feet, an act that drew one of the biggest cheers of the day.
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