Outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art stands a monument that has no business being there by any traditional definition of public art. It is a statue of a fictional boxer, the most visited and photographed public artwork in Philadelphia, drawing nearly as many annual visitors as the Statue of Liberty, and people fly from every country on earth to stand next to it. For the first time in its history, that statue has been brought inside the museum to anchor Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments, the landmark exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of Rocky. For
63 years, the World Boxing Council has shown up for boxing in person, in arenas, in gyms, in championship rings on every continent. And on the opening weekend of the most significant boxing exhibition ever mounted, it was there, the way it has always been there, for the sport, for the culture, and for the global boxing community it has represented for 63 years. On April 23, 2026, at the Exhibition Press Preview, Rasheen Farlow, Global Brand Strategy and Cultural Partnerships for the World Boxing Council, presented a 1-of-1 commemorative WBC Championship Belt to the Frazier family. The belt was accepted by the Honorable Jacquelyn Frazier-Lyde, daughter of Philadelphia World Heavyweight Champion Joe Frazier and a former world champion heavyweight boxer in her own right. The portraits on the belt honor Joe Frazier, Muhammad Ali, and Jose Sulaiman: three men who shaped championship boxing and the world permanently.
“This moment was always about three things at once. It was about Joe Frazier, a Philadelphia champion and a global champion, whose legacy belongs in every room that tells the true story of this sport. It was about this exhibition, which understands that boxing is not just athletic competition, it is art, it is identity, it is two thousand years of human struggle rendered visible. And it was about Rocky, fifty years of a film that gave the world a Philadelphia story and made these steps a global destination. I am from Philadelphia. I saw all of it in the same moment. And I knew the World Boxing Council had a responsibility to be here.”
— Rasheen Farlow, Global Brand Strategy and Cultural Partnerships, World Boxing Council
The following evening, April 24, at the Exhibition Opening Party, Farlow presented a second 1-of-1 commemorative WBC Championship Belt to Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of
Monuments itself. The belt was accepted by Guest Curator Paul Farber, Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab. Its portraits honor Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and Jose Sulaiman
alongside Rocky, and it carries the official Rising Up exhibition logo, making it a singular artifact permanently tied to this historic show. The presentation was the result of a collaboration between Farlow and Farber, who connected before the exhibition opened, shared a vision for what the WBC’s presence could mean, and aligned immediately.
The World Boxing Council is present in 176 countries. When it shows up in person, it shows up for the entire global boxing community. The WBC is the only sporting body to formally honor Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments with championship hardware, and it calls on the global boxing community to visit and support this extraordinary exhibition. Those two 1-of-1 commemorative belts now live permanently inside the Philadelphia Museum of Art as a physical record of that commitment.
“For 63 years the World Boxing Council has stood beside champions, beside their families, and beside the cities that claim them. Rasheen saw what this moment could be for boxing and for this organization, and he brought that vision to life. To honor Joe Frazier’s family, and to honor an exhibition that places boxing inside the full sweep of human history and culture, is precisely the role the World Boxing Council was built to play. We are proud to have been in that room.”
— Mauricio Sulaiman, President, World Boxing Council
Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments spans more than two millennia of boxing art and culture, featuring works by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Keith Haring alongside over 150 works drawn from collections at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The British Museum, and three Smithsonian museums. The exhibition was developed under the curatorial leadership of Guest Curator Paul Farber, Director and Co-Founder of Monument Lab, with Caro Campos,
Assistant Curator, Monument Lab, Joslyn Moore, Exhibition Assistant, Philadelphia Museum of
Art, and Louis Marchesano, Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs
and Conservation, Philadelphia Museum of Art. On view through August 2, 2026, Dorrance
Galleries, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway. philamuseum.org
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