Statue of former heavyweight champion will replace Sylvester Stallone’s iconic character.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has produced a number of all-time great boxers over the long history of the sport. These range from the legends of yesteryear like Philadelphia Jack O’Brien to modern ring generals like Bernard Hopkins and Jaron Ennis.
Perhaps Philadelphia’s most famous fighting son, though, is one who didn’t even exist in real life.
Rocky Balboa.
Yes, the fictional champion portrayed by Sylvester Stallone in the Rocky film franchise is possibly the most popular boxing figure from the city. So much so that the set of stairs the titular Rocky so famously ran up are now known as the “Rocky Steps”.
These lead to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and a statue of Rocky Balboa stands at the base of the steps.
But Rocky is not the only Philadelphian boxing icon to have a statue in the city. No, that distinction is shared by one Joseph William Frazier.
‘Smokin” Joe Frazier was one of the greatest heavyweight champions to ever live. A menace with a left hook that detonated off jaws like a nuke, Frazier is forever immortalised in history as the first man to beat Muhammad Ali.
Frazier’s statue is located in front of “Stateside Live!” in South Philadelphia, though that may not be the case for long.
Creative Philadelphia–the city’s office of arts and culture–have had a request approved by the Philadelphia Art Commission to replace the Rocky statue with the one of Joe Frazier.
The public art director of Creative Philadelphia, Marguerite Anglin, said in the proposal that the decision would “increase public visibility for the statue, deepen educational opportunities, and create a respectful dialogue between two complementary representations of Philadelphia’s spirit: Rocky Balboa as a symbol of hard work and aspiration, and Joe Frazier as the embodiment of those values lived out in real life.”
And while you’d think that plenty would be aware of Frazier and his statue already, this might not actually be the case, as visitors to Philadelphia have claimed that they were entirely unaware of the statue’s existence.
While Frazier’s statue will be taking the place of Rocky’s, the Rocky statue is set to be exhibited inside the Museum of Art from April to August before it will be placed atop the steps permanently.
Frazier’s statue was unveiled in 2015, four years after the boxing legend’s death. The statue stands 12 feet tall and is composed of 1,800 pounds of bronze.
Speaking on the approval of the proposal, Pete Lyde–son-in-law of Joe Frazier and CEO of the Smokin’ Joe Frazier Championship Foundation–said to CBS News Philadelphia, “He was the authentic, real deal, and that’s been the argument all along. Where this piece will now be placed is wonderful. It’s ground level. It’s the level of all of us here as citizens, and everyone will have immediate access to this piece, and it will be the first piece you come into contact with when you’re coming up to the art museum.”
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