Damar Thomas Targets Commonwealth Gold in Glasgow
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Damar Thomas, a 21-year-old 6'6" southpaw super-heavyweight from London, targets gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, with his first bout scheduled for Wednesday.
- Thomas fell just short of a World championship medal last year when he lost a decision to Julio La Cruz, a two-weight Olympic champion and five-time World gold medallist, in the quarter-finals despite a strong start.
- Since the La Cruz loss, Thomas has won gold at the European under-23 championships — stopping two opponents including the finalist in round two — and at the Strandja tournament, where he stopped Brazil's Joao Batista Gomes Da Silva in round one en route to the title.
- Thomas told Sky Sports the post-La Cruz period was a learning experience: "Since I boxed La Cruz, I know what I could have done better... I've worked on what I done wrong."
- Four of Thomas' England team-mates — Ellis Trowbridge, Lauren Mackie, Lucy Kings-Wheatley, and Patris Mughalzai — all won their opening bouts on the first day of competition Friday.
- The article frames Thomas as Britain's amateur heavyweight torch-bearer behind a stacked professional scene featuring Daniel Dubois, Moses Itauma, Fabio Wardley, Anthony Joshua, and Tyson Fury.
Why it matters: Thomas, still just 21, represents Britain's next-generation amateur heavyweight pipeline behind its loaded professional ranks. Winning gold in Glasgow would validate his post-La Cruz refinements and establish him as a genuine Olympic contender, while his rare stoppage rate at elite amateur level signals he may already be outgrowing the domestic competition.
