Idi Amin’s boxer grandson determined to become new King of Scotland
Aziz Abdul, the 25-year-old super-heavyweight boxer grandson of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, is competing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, a city with a strange resonance given Amin once declared himself "King of Scotland". He faces England's Damar Thomas in the 90+kg quarter-finals, with victory guaranteeing at least a bronze medal and making him Uganda's first Commonwealth boxing medallist since 1990. Abdul, who never met his grandfather, says he wants to make a positive contribution to Uganda's reputation rather than dwell on Amin's brutal legacy.
Amin ruled Uganda from a 1971 coup until 1979, a regime estimated to have killed half a million people and expelled the country's Asian population; he died in exile in Saudi Arabia in 2003 without ever facing trial. Known for his own boxing past and his professed fondness for Scotland, including wearing a kilt and playing bagpipes, Amin's eccentricities inspired the Oscar-winning film "The Last King of Scotland". Abdul, nicknamed "Ringo", declined to say whether he was proud of his lineage, saying only that he prefers not to comment on his grandfather's disputed legacy while he focuses on winning gold.
- Idi Amin's grandson Aziz Abdul boxes in Glasgow's Commonwealth Games quarter-finals
- Win would make him Uganda's first Commonwealth boxing medallist since 1990
- Amin once styled himself "King of Scotland" after a fascination with the country
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Aziz Abdul is a 25-year-old Ugandan super-heavyweight boxer competing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. His participation has attracted attention partly because he is the grandson of Idi Amin, the former Ugandan dictator who ruled the country from 1971 to 1979.
Amin's regime was defined by extreme brutality, with an estimated half million deaths, and by the forced expulsion of the country's Asian population. He died in exile in Saudi Arabia in 2003 without facing trial. Amin himself was a keen boxer and harboured an unusual fascination with Scotland, declaring himself "King of Scotland" and wearing kilts and playing bagpipes—eccentricities that inspired the Oscar-winning film "The Last King of Scotland".
Abdul, nicknamed "Ringo", says he prefers to focus on boxing and making a positive contribution to Uganda's reputation rather than discussing his grandfather's disputed legacy. A Commonwealth Games medal would make him Uganda's first boxing medallist at the Games since 1990.