British super-heavyweight Damar Thomas targets Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow

Image: Damar Thomas is on a mission at the Commonwealth Games

Britain's heavyweight boxing scene is thriving. In Daniel Dubois, Moses Itauma, Fabio Wardley and, of course, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, the UK boasts a host of world-class fighters in the professional ranks.

London's Damar Thomas is looking to carry the torch through the amateur sport. Still just 21 years old, the six-foot-six southpaw super-heavyweight could mark himself out as a genuine Olympic contender if he adds more international silverware to his collection.

On Wednesday, Thomas will have his first bout in the Commonwealth Games boxing tournament as he targets the most high-profile medal of his career.

Thomas: "I'm Taking It as Another Competition"

"It's going to be great to fight in Glasgow. I'm taking it as another competition," Thomas told Sky Sports. "It doesn't matter how big it is, I'll take it as another competition and get stuck in.

"It doesn't matter how big the tournament is, I take everything really serious," he added.

"There's going to be great competition there. I need to be in the best shape I can be and do everything that I can to get the success I want, which is the gold medal."

Image: Damar Thomas could be a future star for British boxing

Learning from Defeat Against a Legend

Thomas fell just short of guaranteeing himself a medal at the World Championships last year. He faced Olympic legend Julio La Cruz — already a two-weight Olympic champion and a five-time World gold medallist.

La Cruz had moved up in weight, and despite Thomas' strong start, the wily, hyper-skilled veteran managed to outfox the young Briton and pocket the decision.

Since then, however, Thomas has been on a fine winning run, picking up gold medals at the European Under-23 Championships and the Strandja, another top-calibre tournament.

"Since I boxed La Cruz, I know what I could have done better — you take the positives with the bad. Since then I've worked on what I done wrong and I've worked on what I done good and could have done more," Thomas said.

Stoppage Power on Display

Stoppages in elite-class, evenly matched amateur boxing bouts are rare — but Thomas has been halting his opponents.

"I had three fights [at the European Under-23 Championships] and I stopped two people. I stopped the boy in the finals in the second round and then the quarter-finals in the first round," Thomas noted.

Image: Thomas is determined to prove how good he can be

At the Strandja tournament — often viewed as a mini World Championships — he took out Brazil's Joao Batista Gomes Da Silva in one round en route to winning the whole event. It is a sign of how far he could go — "to the top".

"I was gutted that I lost in the quarter-finals of the World Championships," Thomas said. "Since then I've come on leaps and bounds, I'm going to prove it to everyone when everyone comes and watches me in Glasgow.

"Since then look what I've done. Since the World Championships look what I've done. So what I'm doing is obviously working and I'll look to carry it on in Glasgow and get a gold medal."

Strong Start for England

Thomas' England teammates got off to a strong start on the first day of the Commonwealth Games on Friday, with all four of their boxers winning their bouts.

• Ellis Trowbridge — the son of three-weight world champion Duke McKenzie — outclassed Vanuatu's 55kg Ricksen Nomleas, who was pulled out by the referee after little more than a minute.
• Lauren Mackie outscored Kenya's Amina Faki at 54kg.
• Lucy Kings-Wheatley handled Petronella Nokenoke of Papua New Guinea at lightweight.
• Patris Mughalzai — a clubmate of Thomas at Powerday Hooks — won his opening contest, unanimously outpointing Ghanaian welterweight Abdul Wahid Omar.

Image: Ruby White makes her Commonwealth Games debut on Monday

Other top England prospects to watch out for include:

• Rising flyweight Ruby White, who boxes on Monday
• London welterweight Sacha Hickey
• Heavyweight Isaac Okoh