A bronze statue of British boxing icon Teddy Baldock has been stolen from Langdon Park in Poplar, east London. The Metropolitan Police are investigating the theft, which occurred on Sunday, with thieves leaving only the pugilist's boxing boots behind.
The statue, valued at approximately £100,000, was pried from its stone plinth and transported on a three-wheeled cargo bike covered with a high-visibility jacket. Police were alerted at around 8pm and have obtained CCTV footage showing four suspects dressed in black with their faces covered. The suspects were last seen heading northbound towards Bromley-by-Bow underground station.
Detective Superintendent Oliver Richter said: “We understand this is a very distressing time for members of our community to have a monument of a local hero treated this way. I want to assure the public that our officers are working at pace to identify those responsible and will continue to follow every available line of enquiry.”
Teddy Baldock, known as the “pride of Poplar”, turned professional at 14 and remains Britain’s youngest boxing world champion, winning the bantamweight title at the Royal Albert Hall in 1927 at age 19. He fought 81 professional matches, including bouts at Madison Square Garden, but retired in his mid-twenties, later struggling with drinking and gambling before dying in poverty at 63.
His grandson, Martin Sax, who raised funds for the statue erected in 2014, expressed distress: “I’m a mixture of upset and angry. It’s an amazing piece of art, and to think that people have stolen it, and all that’s going to happen is it’ll get melted down and they’ll get scrap value… it’s very sad really.” He hopes media coverage will make the statue “too hot to handle” for scrap merchants, allowing its recovery.
Police urge anyone with information to call 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 1111. Tower Hamlets Council said: “We are shocked to hear of the theft… We are reviewing our CCTV as part of the police investigation in the hope that we can find the statue and catch the culprits.”
