Philly sculptor unveils 10-foot-tall Muhammad Ali bronze statue

Renowned Philadelphia sculptor Zenos Frudakis gave NBC10 a sneak peak at his newest creation: A 10-foot-tall bronze statue of Muhammad Ali.

The soft unveiling took place at the Laran Bronze Foundry in Chester before the monument hits the road, traveling to its final destination of Lewiston, Maine, where Ali famously fought Sonny Liston in 1965.

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The creation is set to be publicly unveiled on May 31 in the city's downtown.

For the Maine community, the new landmark will be something positive after a 2023 mass shooting killed 18 people.

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"They actually asked me to do this before that happened," Frudakis said. "But they are looking forward to this as something positive, as kind of a healing project."

Frudakis has a three-step process for creating his sculptures. He begins by using special Italian clay that, according to him, has not even been made in 50 years. The clay he uses has been passed down from previous scupltors, including from those who made the Lincoln Memorial.

Then, he adds wax to the piece before finally adding bronze, giving his sculptures a powerful and finished look.

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Frudakis said Ali was one of his heroes, and that getting to sculpt him was an opportunity of a lifetime.

"He's a great man for a lot of reasons, not just because he was an athlete," Frudakis said. "He opposed the war in Vietnam, and other things. He was a fighter that way."

"He was, in some ways, almost as important as Martin Luther King, Jr., in terms of civil rights. He was amazing," Frudakis added.

The Maine meeting in 1965 between Ali and Liston was the second and last fight between the two, with Ali defending his World Heavyweight Championship by knocking out Liston.

Ali had first won the Heavyweight title after defeating Liston for the first time in 1964 during a fight in Miami Beach.