Steve Williams and David Malone purchased the LA Boxing off of Collins Avenue and Tustin Street in Orange in 2009, and along with hundreds of vinyl wrapped bags and sweat residue, they came to own a great, green beast. The Hulk is made out of “poly-something, some kind of fiber-glass,” Williams says and stands at a hollow but burly 9-feet-tall. He's been stretching his pectorals and calling out in rage to drivers and pedestrians ever since–but now it's time for him to go.
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The statue was originally purchased by Bryson Miller, the previous owner of LA Boxing. Miller ordered the beast from a company in Hollywood and had them add boxing gloves to his steadily clenched fists of fury and justice.
“At first it helped bring in a lot of business, but after a while it just became a landmark and people grew used to it,” he says, “I think people will be sad it's gone, but it won't hurt [us].” Williams says that the statue is mostly used by customers and passerbys to take photos, and for appearances at Orange County events to advertise the business.
The Hulk, instead of being carted around in the LA Boxing parking lot, will rampage across the states to Illinois, where he'll find his final resting place at the Northlake Public Library in Illinois. When Williams realized that the Hulk could't stay at La Boxing's new location across the street, due to his landlord's liability concerns, he scoured the Internet hoping to find an interested collector. Instead, he found Northlake, which just coincidentally had been looking to specifically purchase a giant Hulk statue for the comics section via an Indiegogo campaign to revamp the library and basically make it cooler.
This last goodbye comes after years of LA Boxing battling with the city over regulation codes–seems poor Hulk just couldn't catch a break with that gargantuan physique. He's in the process of being packed up and will ship out to Northlake sometime this week, and Williams says he and his wife just might visit Hulk in his new home someday. We're just hoping his Omega threat level won't come into play when the children are around.
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