A MINEHEAD mother and son will travel to London next week for the official unveiling of a statue dedicated to the sporting achievements of their father and grandfather. Pam Sax and son Martin will join legends from the world of boxing to honour Teddy Baldock who was - and still is - Great Britain's youngest ever boxing world champion and the only British boxer to win a world title fight in the 1920s. Teddy was just 19 years and 347 days old when he took the championship title having fought his way out of poverty to the status of national hero. But his achievement has all but faded with time. His marriage to Martin's grandmother broke down and Teddy ended his life penniless on the streets of London. Martin only stumbled across his grandfather's past when his mother found a scrapbook containing press cuttings about his boxing career. After leaving the West Somerset School he was determined to find out more and during his own career as a Royal Marine found himself well and truly bitten by the boxing bug. He boxed for Watchet Boxing Club and later qualified as a coach, helping Danny McGee and Mike Thresher as an assistant coach at Minehead Boxing Club. He somehow found time to visit the offices of Boxing News to trawl their archives for information and spent many months in the British Newspaper Library researching press articles. Twenty years of research culminated in the publication of a book, The Pride of Poplar, co-written by Martin and respected sports historian Brian Belton. But determined not to let his grandfather's achievements be consigned to the history books, Martin also commissioned a life-sized bronze statue of Teddy after meeting renowned sculptor Carl Payne. Martin said: "Since the success of the book I thought there should be a lasting monument to mark Teddy Baldock's achievements in the ring and that it should be in Poplar where he hailed from. "I originally considered a Blue Heritage plaque but because his residence no longer exists my application would not meet the British Heritage's strict requirements." Next Friday, Martin and his mother will travel to London to watch the official unveiling of the bronze in Poplar, East London. The event will be attended by stars from the world of boxing and, subject to filming commitments, the official unveiling honours will be carried out by movie hardman Ray Winstone. "After years of fundraising and in partnership with Poplar HARCA, the local Housing and Regeneration Community Association, the statue has now been completed and will be unveiled at Langdon Park, only a short distance from where Teddy grew up," Martin said. "It will be overlooked by the boxing gym on the second floor of the new, state-of-the-art Spotlight Youth Centre. "I hope it will serve as an inspiration to the youth club members and also the students at the nearby Langdon Park Sports Community College. "Highlighting the achievements of a local youth, who, through hard work and determination rose to the very pinnacle of his chosen sporting career," Martin said. Teddy retired from boxing aged only 24 with a professional record of 81 contests - winning 73, losing five and drawing three. He lived the celebrity lifestyle after his retirement but without boxing he was anchorless and succumbed to the temptations of both drink and gambling before finally dying in poverty. Martin added: "Winning the championship made Teddy a landmark sportsman and, for a time, a national hero, yet sadly, and almost inexplicably, his name and achievements are hardly heard about in boxing circles today and he is practically unrecognised in British sporting history." All proceeds raised on the day of the unveiling will go towards The Teddy Baldock Sports Benevolent Fund, a charity set up by Martin to help people who have been severely injured while playing sport. l Pictured is a clay replica of how the finished bronze will look.