Apparently, “Smokin’” Joe Frazier’s Philadelphia Gym is now up for sale for a massive $2.4 million.
The boxing gym is being advertised as “a chance to own a piece of history” and pieces of history don’t come much greater than this, especially in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia has a rich boxing history, but “Smokin’” Joe Frazier is probably the greatest boxer ever produced by the city. More recently Philadelphia has been responsible for boxers such as Bernard Hopkins, so the tradition still carries on today.
Recently, Marvis Frazier (Joes Son) talked of turning the gym into a boxing museum and this still may happen as Joe Frazier has reportedly been considering renovations to the gym, however it is unclear whether he has found a partner for this as of yet. Therefore, along with his poor state of health, this may have been an influential factor in his decision to sell the gym.
I hope that whoever ends by buying the building is a boxing fan and will keep it either as a gym or at least sometime boxing related. It would be a shame to see such a valuable piece of boxing history turned into something totally unrelated to boxing.
What do you think should be done with Smokin Joe Frazier’s Philadelphia Gym?
I think that it should remain a boxing gym, however, I think that they should focus on children and self-discipline.
Comment by Michele — August 21, 2008 @ 2:29 am
I think the gym should remain as a boxing gym to train future champions. Joe Frazier is a massive part of boxing history and I am looking to come to train. I live in England but have been wanting to train with Hoe Frazier for a while. KEEP THE GYM GOING IT DOESNT GET ANY BETTER THAN JOE FRAZIERS OWN GYM WHERE HE TRAINED FOR ALL HIS FIGHTS.
Comment by Amrit Kumar — February 8, 2009 @ 7:20 pm