Idi Amin’s boxer grandson vows to win gold and be ‘the new king of Scotland’

The boxer grandson of Idi Amin has vowed to become the “king of Scotland” by winning gold for Uganda at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Aziz Abdul, a heavyweight boxer for Uganda, will take on Englishman Damar Thomas on Thursday morning (AEST).

But he has grabbed attention before even stepping in the ring with his comments to media over the last couple of days.

“My idol is Mike Tyson, the baddest man on the planet,” Abdul told media earlier this week. “If I win the gold medal, I will be the baddest man in the Commonwealth, the baddest man in Glasgow and the new king of Scotland.”

Abdul’s reference hearkens back to his late grandfather Amin, who was married six times and fathered around 60 children. Amin was nicknamed “the Butcher of Uganda” – but also proclaimed himself the king of Scotland in 1976. He had a fixation for the country, sparked by his time as a soldier in the British colonial army, and often wore kilts and played the bagpipes.

Also a one-time heavyweight boxing champion, Amin seized power on January 25, 1971, overthrowing president Milton Obote while Obote was abroad.

Human rights groups say as many as 500,000 people were killed during Amin’s eight-year rule over Uganda until he was forced out of the country in 1979. He was never tried for his crimes in an international court and died in Saudi Arabia in 2003.

“My grandfather’s achievements inspired me,” said Abdul, whose nickname is Ringo. “He was a heavyweight boxer like me, and I am so proud of him. Now we are not in Africa, we are in Europe. As my grandpa used to say, you need to win by knockout, so that’s what we have trained for and that’s what I hope to do.

“I believe in myself and I mean what I say. When I say I will do it, I will do it. Let them not doubt me. I am aiming for the gold medal.”

In a later interview with BBC Scotland, Adbul would not respond when asked if he was proud to be the grandson of the dictator, who also forced the expulsion of Uganda’s entire Asian minority, and whose rule led to total economic collapse. But Abdul did address how it feels to be linked to someone with such a sinister reputation.

“Sometimes people say positive about him, but others say negative about him,” Abdul said. “That’s why I don’t want to talk more about him.

“It’s not good to say something negative about someone who is not there, and it’s not good to say something about someone negative who was not there by the time when the incident happened, if it happened.”

Abdul is 25, and according to the BBC Scotland report never met his grandfather.

In the ring, he said, his big weapon is the “Ringo punch”.

“I am not going to tell you about it – I will show you on the day if the right time comes,” he said. “You will see what the Ringo punch looks like. The big boys are here now.

“Lions give back to lions. A lion cannot give back to a dog or a camel. A lion must resemble a lion. It is what it is. I am a real warrior. I am the son of the son.”

Abdul is due to fight Thomas at 6.15am (AEST) on Thursday.

Get around our Commonwealth Games coverage

Follow our coverage of the Commonwealth Games with live blogs covering every moment of the action from 6pm AEST daily.

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.