The Philadelphia Art Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to relocate the statue of heavyweight champion Joe Frazier from outside Stateside Live in South Philadelphia to the base of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps — the same spot where the Rocky statue has stood since 2006.
The nine-foot bronze statue, created by artist Stephen Layne and installed in 2015, depicts Frazier delivering the left hook that dropped Muhammad Ali in the 15th round of the “Fight of the Century” at Madison Square Garden in 1971.
The move comes after the commission voted in January to relocate the Rocky statue to the top of the steps. Rocky will first go inside the museum for an exhibition running April through August before being permanently installed at the top — near the spot where it was originally unveiled at the end of “Rocky III.” A replica Rocky statue loaned by Sylvester Stallone will be returned to the actor.
The Frazier statue is expected to be in place by spring 2026. The cost of the relocation is estimated at $150,000, and interpretive panels will be added to educate visitors about Frazier’s life and legacy.
The Real Rocky of Philadelphia
Frazier moved to Philadelphia from Beaufort, South Carolina at age 15 and began boxing at the Police Athletic League. He won a gold medal at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, became undisputed heavyweight champion, and was the first man to defeat Muhammad Ali, winning a unanimous decision in their 1971 fight at the Garden. He finished his professional career 32-4-1 with 27 knockouts.
Frazier’s training habits — running the Art Museum steps and punching sides of beef in a meat locker — directly inspired details of the Rocky character. Stallone gave Frazier a cameo in the first Rocky film and considered him for the role of Clubber Lang in Rocky III before a sparring session convinced Stallone otherwise.
Frazier founded Joe Frazier’s Gym on North Broad Street in 1968 and mentored local youth and amateur boxers there for more than 40 years. He died in Philadelphia in 2011 at age 67.
Family Reaction
Frazier’s daughter and former boxer Jacqueline Frazier-Lyde attended the vote. “My father ran the Art Museum steps training,” she said. “We come from great Philadelphia boxing tradition and sports tradition. Just really happy to celebrate the real for real, so that inspirational truth can really just inspire everyday people.”
Two of Frazier’s granddaughters raised concerns during a public comments session about why the real champion would be at the bottom of the steps while the fictional boxer sits at the top. Gabrielle Gibson told the commission: “The history of the steps is well established to those that know about it, and they aren’t the Rocky steps. They are the Smokin’ Joe Frazier steps.”
The commission noted that tourists approaching the museum will encounter the Frazier statue first, and that the statue’s larger footprint made the base a more practical location. Reader rails displaying historical information about Frazier will surround the statue, and the Rocky merchandise store at the foot of the steps will post directions to the Frazier monument.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker supported the relocation. “Placing the Joe Frazier statue at the Art Museum affirms Philadelphia’s commitment to honoring real-life achievement alongside cultural mythology,” Parker said.
The Rocky statue draws an estimated 4 million tourists to the museum annually. The city is hoping the Frazier statue in that same high-traffic location will finally give one of boxing’s all-time greats the visibility his legacy deserves.
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