February 11, 2026
Jessica Kourkounis/for PhillyVoice
The statue of boxer Joe Frazier will move from the stadium district to the Philadelphia Museum of Art this spring. The city's Art Commission approved the relocation, giving the heavyweight champ a more prominent home. The file photo shows the unveiling of the Frazier statue on Sept. 12, 2015.
The statue of Joe Frazier will be moving to a new home after the city's Art Commission approved a proposal to relocate the 11-foot tall bronze monument of the heavyweight champ to the grounds of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The statue currently is outside what is now Stateside Live!, at 11th Street and Pattison Avenue, in the South Philly stadium complex, where it has stood since it was unveiled in September 2015. Frazier, who was from North Philly, died in 2011. The sculpture, by artist Stephen Layne, depicts the moment after Frazier threw the left hook that knocked down Muhammad Ali late in the "Fight of the Century" on March 8, 1971.
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The five members attending Wednesday's Philadelphia Art Commission meeting all voted in favor of the proposal by Creative Philadelphia to move the Frazier statue. It is expected to be relocated in the spring at a cost of about $150,000. Creative Philadelphia is the city's office that promotes Philly's public artworks, collaborates with artists and ensures public access to arts and culture.
At the art museum, Frazier's statue will take the place of the Rocky statue located in a fenced-in cul de sac to the right of the art museum's steps. The Rocky statue temporarily is being moved inside the Philadelphia Museum of Art to be part of a special exhibit from April to August. After that, the sculpture of the movie character will be installed at the top of the art museum steps, a move the Art Commission approved in December.
Among the supporters of Creative Philadelphia's effort to relocate the Frazier sculpture were city and state leaders, Frazier's relatives and Philadelphia Museum of Art officials. Mayor Cherelle Parker said the plan was in line with the city's commitment to "honoring real-life achievement alongside cultural mythology."
"This more visible location for the Frazier statue will deepen public understanding, strengthen civic pride and ensure that Philadelphia continues to celebrate those who shaped its history through lived experience," Parker said in a statement.
The Joe Frazier statue is slated to be moved from South Philly and installed in the spot currently occupied by the Rocky statue. The Rocky statue is being moved inside the museum as part of an exhibit and then it is being install at the top of the art museum's steps.
"Smokin' Joe" Frazier moved to Philadelphia as a teenager from South Carolina and is regarded among the greatest heavyweight boxers. He won an Olympic gold medal in 1964 at age 20, and in the "Fight of the Century" bout at Madison Square Garden, he became the first fighter to defeat Muhammad Ali.
Frazier founded Joe Frazier's Gym on North Broad Street, where he mentored local youth and amateur boxers for more than 40 years. His experiences training in a meat locker and running the Art Museum's steps also inspired details of the titular "Rocky" character in the movies.
Marguerite Anglin, public art director for Creative Philadelphia, said relocating the statue will create the chance for it to be seen by more people, particularly the influx of tourists expected to come to the city this summer for the U.S. semiquincentennial events, the World Cup and the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
"As we celebrate our 250th, visitors will come here seeking authentic stories about Philadelphia," Anglin said during the commission's meeting Wednesday. "Placing the Joe Frazier statue at the art museum allows us to share a more complete story about Philadelphia's spirit – one rooted in real people, real work and real pride in this city."
Many critics have noted the city's willingness celebrate and promote a monument to a fictional boxer while, for years, lacking recognition for a real-life champion in Frazier, and that even after Frazier's statue was commissioned it was relegated to the stadium district instead earning a prominent perch at the art museum. Anglin said during Wednesday that moving the Frazier statue is an opportunity for "respectful dialogue."
"Philadelphia is big enough to celebrate both the real life story of Joe Frazier and the myth of Rocky," she said. "This is not a competition, it's a conversation, and public art can help us have those conversations."
