This pose will do just fine

Yesterday, while Muhammed Ali was at the Constitution Center receiving a medal for being Muhammed Ali, (which he promises he won’t throw into the Schuylkill someday) and Sylvester Stallone was in Miami getting his chest waxed, Mayor Nutter kicked off a campaign to raise a cool $150,000 for a statue of Philadelphia’s own Stetson-stud, Smokin’ Joe Frazier.

The statue will be located somewhere in the Xfinity Live compound to ensure that when people pose with him, his bronze gloves and shoulders will be dusted with Old Bay and that smeary cheese. The mayor was at Xfinity Live yesterday for the kick-off press conference, as were several members of the Frazier family, including Frazier’s daughter Renae Frazier-Martin, his sons Derek and Brandon, and son-in-law, Peter Lyde. Xfinity Live has written a check for 25 large, and you can make your own tax deductible donation at FrazierStatue.com.

We don’t have the time to explain to you all the ways in which Smokin’ Joe was important to this city, to boxing, and to the world, but we were lucky to have him. They should make kids watch this documentary in school. And while we’re at it, who wants to create a Kickstarter for a Randall Tex Cobb Mural?

[Image via Ink Cloners]

This entry was posted on Friday, September 14th, 2012 at 11:42 am.