New statue of boxer Joe Frazier unveiled in South Philly

Philly’s best-known fictional boxer, Rocky, has statue at the art museum, and South Philly’s Joey Giardello has a statue on East Passyunk Avenue. So it’s about time that Philly’s boxing royalty, Joe Frazier, gets his own statue.

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Photo from CBS Philly.

On Saturday, a new 9-foot-tall statue of Frazier was unveiled outside of Xfinity Live!

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The sculpture depicts the moment after Smokin’ Joe landed the punch that knocked down Muhammad Ali in the 15th round in 1971. Frazier was the first fighter to defeat Ali.

The statue stands where the Spectrum once was. Frazier participated in the first sporting event ever there in 1967, winning with a knockout over Tony Doyle.

The Frazier statue joins others, including Kate Smith, Julius Erving, Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent.