Joseph Brown was an athlete, educator and sculptor. One of Brown's natural talents was boxing, and he began his boxing career at Temple University where he became the Amateur Athletic Union's (AAU) heavyweight champion. He was lured away from the amateur realm by the money and fame of the professional boxing world, but his professional career was short-lived.

A boxing injury resulted in Brown's introduction to the world of art in 1929. He became a model for a sculpting class and soon realized he was interested in sculpting. That year he sculpted a boxer, his brother Harry and a ballet dancer. All three works were accepted into the annual exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine ...