A bronze statue of the legendary boxer Teddy Baldock has been stolen from a park in east London, leaving only his feet behind.
Baldock, known as “the pride of Poplar”, became Britain’s youngest boxing world champion when he won the bantamweight title at 19 in 1927. Despite his achievements, fighting in front of huge crowds at Madison Square Garden and the Royal Albert Hall, he died penniless in 1971 at the age of 63.
His grandson, Martin Sax, raised £100,000 for the commemorative statue, which was erected in Langdon Park in Poplar in 2014.
At the weekend thieves cut it down at the ankles, leaving his boxing boots attached to the stone plinth.
What is left of the statue after thieves hacked it down at the ankles
AKIRA SUEMORI FOR THE TIMES
Sax, 56, said: “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 for an iconic statue in the centre of London of a British sporting hero — it’s very sad really.”
He added: “I’m hoping that with all the media coverage, the statue itself might become too hot to handle, as it were. You know, that any scrap metal merchants might not want to touch it, in which case if it can be recovered, it can be fixed.”
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Baldock was born in Poplar in 1907 and became a boxer at 14 years old.
In 1927, aged 19, he fought the American Archie Bell at the Albert Hall to become the bantamweight world champion. That year, The Times described him as “by far the fastest and most brilliant boxer at his weight”.
Teddy Baldock became a world champion aged 19
TIMES NEWSPAPERS LTD
He became a famous public figure, fought in Madison Square Garden in New York, and held the British, empire and world titles.
Sax, a site manager at the Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset, said: “When he fought at the Albert Hall they said 12 buses left the East End full of people. It was sold out.
“Tragically, I suppose, when you turn professional at such a young age it takes its toll.”
Baldock retired from the sport and “turned to gambling [and] drinking”, and after the East End was heavily bombed during the war, lost much of his money.
The unveiling of the statue in 2014 at Langdon Park
PHILIP SHARKEY/SHUTTERSTOCK
Sax was two years old when his grandfather died, and only discovered his boxing legacy through old scrapbooks.
He said he has tried to bring his grandfather back into “the public eye” and co-wrote a biography with the sports historian Brian Belton in 2008.
The Metropolitan Police said no arrests had been made since the theft was reported on Sunday.
A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets council said: “We are shocked to hear of the theft of the Teddy Baldock statue from Langdon Park.”