Now that’s REALLY asking for trouble!
Brazen mugger risks right hook as he steals boxer Chris Eubank’s £400 Louis Vuitton bag
OF all the possible mugging victims to choose, it is probably best to fight shy of a former world boxing champion. But when a brazen thief grabbed a £400 designer bag from his victim’s grasp in London he was unaware he was targeting Chris Eubank.
The ex-fighter, 55, told yesterday how he was left stunned when the smartly-dressed mugger snatched the brown Louis Vuitton clutch bag and sprinted off.
He was so shocked he did not fight back when the crook pounced from behind as he was leaving a bank in Edgware Road in west London at 1.30pm on Tuesday.
Eubank said: ‘I thought “He must be the country’s most brazen crook”.’
He added: ‘I couldn’t believe it. I was stunned. He couldn’t have known who I was because he wouldn’t have tried it. He was just looking at the prize.
‘It was over in seconds and he was down the road like a sprinter with a baton.
‘I didn’t even think of chasing him at first, such was the shock.
‘I only saw the back of his head so I didn’t see his complexion. He was rather well-dressed with smart jeans.’
The former world middleweight and super-middleweight champion rushed into Barclays to call police. Staff confirmed they had CCTV covering the area. He then followed the mugger in the direction he escaped, but could not find him. Passers-by saw him fleeing but no one stopped the man.
Eubank told London’s Evening Standard: ‘It’s a sign of the times – they don’t care about confronting someone like me so nobody is immune. The police’s hands are full with everything that’s going on. But we need protection on the streets.’
He said the ‘man bag’ had sentimental value as it is one of five he has owned since 1992. He took it to Las Vegas where he married his second wife and manager Claire in 2014.
The bag also contained a bandana he wore in the jungle on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity and ID for his role as a city marshal in Louisiana, US. There was also a quarter bar of Waitrose Belgian chocolate with hazelnuts. He said of the chocolate: ‘That’s what’s really messed up my day. It’s been
‘Sign of the times – nobody is immune’
in there for six days just ready to eat. I like it at that temperature and they took it. I’m hoping if the thief shows the documents to his friends and they recognise my name, he’ll give the man bag back.’
The attack comes months after the sudden death of Eubank’s boxer son Sebastian, 29, who suffered a heart attack while swimming in Dubai. Eubank and former arch-rival Nigel Benn, who fought each other in titanic clashes in the 1990s, were in London to promote The Trilogy Tour – a series of talks about their rivalry.
Scotland Yard said: ‘The suspect fled the scene on foot. No persons were injured. There have been no arrests.’