Professional boxer Anthony Joshua has had his personalised Range Rover stolen.
The car, which is roughly worth £150,000, has a personalised interior and paint job. A gift from Jaguar Land Rover ahead of the boxer’s fight with Wladimir Klitschko, the Range Rover SVAutobiography-Dynamic is reportedly one of Joshua’s most beloved possessions.
CCTV footage caught the thief stealing the Range Rover from the home of one of Joshua’s relatives on Thursday (September 6), while he trained at the English Institute of Sport (EIS) in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.
The theft will no doubt be a distraction to Joshua as he trains for his world heavyweight title fight against Alexander Povetkin, which is set to take place at Wembley stadium on September 22.
The car’s colour – named after the heavyweight world champion – is ‘World Champion Graphite’. AJ’s initials are stitched into the headrests and engraved onto the car.
It’ss said to have a specific place to hold the boxer’s title belts, though thankfully they weren’t in the car at the time it was stolen.
According to The Sun, a spokesperson for Joshua said:
A shared car was stolen from a relatives central London home in the early hours of the morning.
This is now a police matter and no further information will be made available.
A source close to Joshua also spoke about the incident, explaining:
AJ’s pretty annoyed about it because it’s so close to the fight. He doesn’t want any distractions at all.
Thankfully no one was hurt when it was stolen. There were no aggravating features in it which is a massive blessing.
But this is probably one of the last things he wanted before the fight.
He’s concentrating on the fight at the moment and won’t let it distract him but once it’s over he will do whatever it takes to find it.
Another source stated there’s a tracking device in the unique vehicle, suggesting it should be relatively easy to trace:
Unluckily for the people who took it, there’s a tracker in it so it probably will come back at some point.
It’s probably going to haunt them. I think he’s just worried what state it will be in when it’s found.
It’s thought the thieves broke into the car using a device which mimics it’s key fob.
Expressing his love for the car in the past, Joshua has said:
You know someone’s happy when they’re 50m away from the car and they’re saying that looks phenomenal and they haven’t even got inside.
I’m not someone that’s like ‘that will do, I’m happy with that’. It’s great or nothing and I’m over the moon with that.
It’s just perfect. It’s subtle and your eyes draw to the finer details, the small touches of attention and I’m overwhelmed.
I couldn’t have asked for anything anymore. That’s what having a special car is about – something that represents you.
I think it’s safe to say, whoever decided to steal the world champion boxer’s car is not a smart person.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to stories@unilad.co.uk.
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.