Up Goes Frazier: Statue of Boxing Great Joe Frazier Unveiled at Last

The question has been asked many times over the years: Why does Philadelphia have a prominent statue of its most famous fictitious boxer, but not one of one of the greatest real-life boxers, who lived for most of his life in Philadelphia?

Ask that question no more, because at last, a “Smokin’” Joe Frazier statue was unveiled in Philadelphia on Sunday. The 12-foot statue, outside Xfinity Live in the sports stadium complex, was dedicated Sunday, which was proclaimed Joe Frazier Day by Mayor Michael Nutter, the Inquirer reported.

While Frazier was actually born in South Carolina, he arrived in Philadelphia at the age of 15 and lived there for most of his life, going on to own a boxing gym in North Philadelphia between the end of his ring days and his death in 2011.

Back in 2012, Mayor Nutter and Frazier’s family had announced plans to begin fundraising for such a statue. On Sunday, he tweeted a picture of the finished one: