The image of Joe Frazier landing a perfect left hook to put Muhammad Ali down in their first fight is etched in the minds of many boxing fans. Now it has been immortalized in bronze.
Frazier handed Ali his first professional defeat 50 years ago Monday in the “Fight of the Century,” with the 15th-round knockdown punctuating his career-defining victory.
In honor of the event, a 9-foot-tall, 1,600-pound statue depicting the punch was unveiled at a gym near Philadelphia owned by Joe Hand Promotions, whose founder helped finance Frazier’s early career. The statue will be moved to a planned Pennsylvania sports museum.
A mural in North Philadelphia also was unveiled.
Two of Frazier’s sons and a daughter attended the ceremony at the gym.
“It just means so much just to see the accolades, the admiration, how much people revere not just Ali, but my father,” Joe Frazier Jr. said, per The Associated Press. “They both have a story. We loved Ali just as much as we love Frazier.
“At the end of the day, this was the one my father was victorious in.”
The mural includes one of Frazier’s favorite sayings: “There is no right way to do wrong and there is no wrong way to do right.”
A statue of Frazier already exists in a complex featuring Philadelphia’s sports venues. Philly was Frazier’s adopted hometown. He died at 67 years old in 2011.
“He just represents what Philadelphia is all about,” Frazier Jr. said. “Work hard. It’s not all about talking with your mouth. It’s speaking with your action. That’s what it’s about.”
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