2024-04-01 11:33:19
An unpleasant surprise awaited the organizers of the prestigious boxing gala evening, which will be hosted by London’s O2 Arena today. Thieves stole half of the ring in which British heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley and Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Frazer Clarke were to appear in the title match.
Half the rink was in a stolen van belonging to Ringcraft, which supplies rings to almost every major boxing establishment in England.
“Identical sprinter (Mercedes delivery brand – note Aktuálně.cz) like this one was stolen in the early hours of this morning from a hotel car park in London’s Canning Town. It contains half a ring for Sunday’s Sky Boxing show,” Mike Goodall, owner of Ringcraft, confirmed on social media.
“Reward reward,” he captioned with a request to share.
Identical sprinter to this stolen early hours of this morning 30/3/24 from hotel car park Canning Town area London …..contains half a boxing ring for Sunday nights Sky Boxing show Reward for Return … please re-tweet … pic.twitter.com/aadHedj540
— Mike Goodall (@MGmrboxing) March 30, 2024
Fortunately for the organizers, the less important half of the ring disappeared. The more essential parts of the arena (e.g. special ropes with sponsors’ prints or the tarpaulin on which the boxers move), which would be much more difficult to replace, remained in another van.
The holding of the gala is not in jeopardy, the Ringcraft staff managed to deliver spare equipment.
“It would take more than one stolen van to stop Sunday’s mega event,” a gala spokesperson told the thieves.
“It’s a sporting event that the whole country is talking about. We expect the O2 Arena to be full,” he added.
The main hit in the 20,000-capacity hall will be the fight between Fabio Wardley, who defends the title of the British champion and the continental belt of the WBA organization, against the challenger Frazer Clarke.
Twenty-nine-year-old Wardley is undefeated in seventeen duels of his professional career. However, the undefeated rival is also three years older, who is waiting for his ninth professional match.
Fabio Wardley (left) and Frazer Clarke at Friday’s press conference. Just a few hours later, they stole half of the ring in which they were supposed to perform | Photo: Reuters