{"id":856303,"date":"2026-08-13T07:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T07:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/856303\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T07:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T07:18:11","slug":"damar-thomas-unfazed-by-anthony-joshua-comparisons-as-commonwealth-games-gold-medallist-chases-own-legacy-ahead-of-la-olympics-boxing-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/856303\/","title":{"rendered":"Damar Thomas unfazed by Anthony Joshua comparisons as Commonwealth Games gold medallist chases &#8216;own legacy&#8217; ahead of LA Olympics | Boxing News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Commonwealth Games gold medallist Damar Thomas wants to create his &#8220;own legacy&#8221; after being compared to former Team GB super-heavyweight stars following his triumph in Glasgow.<\/p>\n<p>The boxer followed in the footsteps of Joe Joyce, Frazer Clarke and Delicious Orie when he beat India&#8217;s Narender Berwal via unanimous decision to win gold in the super-heavyweight category.<\/p>\n<p>Standing at 6ft 6in, Thomas has earned inevitable comparisons with Anthony Joshua and represents one of the great hopes for the future of British heavyweight boxing.<\/p>\n<p>The 21-year-old, who is targeting success at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, is unfazed by such comparisons and insists he is focused on his own development.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Yeah, it&#8217;s a great feeling [to win gold]. I managed to add my name to the British heavyweights that won the Commonwealth [gold],&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" loading=\"lazy\" intrinsicsize=\"768x432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/skysports-damar-thomas-bpxing_7309831.jpg\"   alt=\"Thomas is aiming for gold at the LA Olympics in 2028\" data-testid=\"article-image-image\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        Image:<br \/>\n        Thomas is aiming for gold at the LA Olympics in 2028<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Hopefully in LA I&#8217;ll be able to add my name to those great heavyweights that managed to get Olympic gold.<\/p>\n<p>          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" loading=\"lazy\" intrinsicsize=\"768x432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/skysports-damar-thomas-boxing_7311979.jpg\"   alt=\"Thomas brushed off comparisons with Anthony Joshua\" data-testid=\"article-image-image\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        Image:<br \/>\n        Thomas brushed off comparisons with Anthony Joshua<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m just in my own race at the minute and taking it in my own strides. I&#8217;m not comparing myself to anyone. I&#8217;m doing everything at my own pace, which is great. What I want to do is create my own legacy, which is a good feeling.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Thomas demonstrated significant boxing IQ in his 5-0 victory over Berwal, marking his 11th consecutive win in a run that extends back to November.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My main asset is my feet and my speed,&#8221; Thomas said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s what works for me with these heavyweights, because a lot of these heavyweights rely on one shot. I don&#8217;t rely on that, so it&#8217;s great.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sdc-article-image__item\" loading=\"lazy\" intrinsicsize=\"768x432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/skysports-damar-thomas-commonwealth-games_7319906.jpg\"   alt=\"Thomas has not lost a fight since November 2025\" data-testid=\"article-image-image\"\/><\/p>\n<p>        Image:<br \/>\n        Thomas has not lost a fight since November 2025<\/p>\n<p>While Thomas&#8217; main ambition for now is to remain amateur and win gold in LA, he has his sights set on becoming a professional after the games in 2028.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;First, I want to tick off that box with LA. I&#8217;m taking one tournament at a time,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a marathon, not a sprint. And I&#8217;m just taking everything at my own pace.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The main goal is the Olympics. Until then, I&#8217;m thinking about Olympics and nothing else. But after the Olympics, I&#8217;ll definitely turn professional.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Watch MVPW-06 in Birmingham, headlined by Mikaela Mayer vs Chantelle Cameron and with Caroline Dubois also in action, live on August 29 on Sky Sports. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sky.com\/tv\/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Get Sky Sports<\/a> or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nowtv.com\/membership\/watch-sky-sports?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">stream boxing with no contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Commonwealth Games gold medallist Damar Thomas wants to create his &#8220;own legacy&#8221; after being compared to former Team&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-856303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}