Hall of Fame boxer and Philadelphia Joe Frazier may soon have a street named after him. His daughter, Weatta Frazier Collins, is circulating a petition to change Glenwood Avenue in North Philadelphia to Joe Frazier Boulevard.
Philadelphia honored Frazier in 2015 with a statue depicting his 1971 knockout punch of Muhammad Ali, and Michael Abdullah, vice president of the 12th and Cambria Advisory Board, said the community is “overwhelmed” at the prospect of naming a street after him just two years later.
Abdullah held a community meeting last week to notify residents of the initiative and to garner support for the petition. She was told she only needed a few signatures from residents on Glenwood Avenue near the former Joe Frazier Gym on North Broad Street, but just to be safe she also shared a petition online, which now has more than 8,000 signatures. The next step is to submit the petition to City Council for a vote.
The city has already named a handful of streets after famous Philadelphians, and the honorees are diverse — from Civil Rights advocate Cecil B. Moore to R&B singers Boyz II Men, who just this June had the section of Broad Street between Christian and Carpenter Streets named after them.
With buzz for Frazier getting his own street growing, Billy Penn asked people who else should have a Philly street named after them.
