Statue of boxer Teddy Baldock stolen from east London park
The Met Police are appealing for information after a bronze statue of boxing icon Teddy Baldock was stolen from an east London park, leaving behind nothing but the boxer’s boxing boots.
The statue, estimated to be worth around £100,000, was freed from its stone plinth outside Langdon Park in Poplar on Sunday and placed on a three-wheeled cargo bike covered in a high-vis jacket.
Police were notified of his disappearance around 8pm and CCTV footage was obtained at the scene showing four suspects dressed in black with their faces covered.
Chief detective Oliver Richter said: “We understand that this treatment of a memorial to a local hero is a very sad time for members of our community.
“I want to reassure the public that our officers are working quickly to identify those responsible and will continue to pursue every available line of inquiry.”
Police said the suspects were last seen heading north towards Bromley-by-Bow tube station.
Known as the “pride of the poplars”, Baldock turned professional at the age of 14. He quickly became a prominent figure and a famous name in British sport.
He fought 81 matches professionally at venues such as Madison Square Garden and remains Britain’s youngest boxing world champion after winning the bantamweight title at the Royal Albert Hall in 1927, aged just 19.
By his mid-twenties, Baldock was exhausted. He gave up sports and turned to drinking and gambling and died in poverty at the age of 63.
Baldock’s grandson Martin Sax, who was two years old when he died, said: Times: “I’m a mixture of sad and angry. It’s an incredible work of art and to think that people have stolen it and it’s all going to melt down and they’ve got the scrap value of the iconic statue of a British sports hero in central London – it’s really, really sad.”
Mr Sax spent years financing the statue, which was erected in 2014.
Mr. Sax only became aware of his grandfather’s legacy after going through old notebooks.
“When we were fighting at Albert Hall, they said 12 buses left the East End full of people. Tickets were sold out,” he told the newspaper. “Tragically, I think it comes at a cost when you turn professional at such a young age.
“With all the media coverage, I expect the statue itself to become too hot to handle.
“You know, scrap metal dealers might not want to touch it, so if it can be salvaged it can be repaired.”
Police are appealing for anyone with information to contact police on 101 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 1111.
A Tower Hamlets Council spokesman said: “We were shocked to hear that the Teddy Baldock statue had been stolen from Langdon Park. The ‘Poplar Pride’ statue is an important part of the borough’s history and means so much to our community.
“We are examining our CCTV cameras as part of the police investigation in the hope that we can find the statue and catch the culprits.”
