In 2018, a new statue of a longtime boxing legend will go up in downtown Atlanta.

Monday, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed announced that Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield, 55, will be immortalized with a statue near Woodruff Park. The statue will be in a pedestrian plaza area in front of the Flatiron Building.

"I believe that great cities have great art and great artists, and these treasures should be accessible to all our residents," said Reed. "And I believe that Evander Holyfield is a treasure."

WSB asked the five-time world heavyweight boxing champion and Olympic medalist whether he ever expected to be immortalized with a statue in the town where he grew up.

"No," says Holyfield. "You know, all I wanted to do was be the best."

Holyfield, who retired in 2014, credits his mother and the Boys Club for helping him fight his way out of the ghetto. Both, he says, taught him that there were other options for him than the ones the world said were his choices, growing up in a poor area.

The installation of the statue at Peachtree St. and Auburn Ave. will be completed in January. It shows the 6'2" boxer standing calmly, with his gloved hands at his sides.

Was that the pose he would have chosen? Holyfield tells WSB Radio he is just happy to have a statue--but he admits that while this is one of the pictures he picked for consideration, it wouldn't have been his first choice--until he was told that humility was the theme.

"Sometimes you want that shot that you're strong and all this, but the point of the matter is that humility is the key to success," says Holyfield. "With humility, you know how strong you are, so you don't have to show it.

"You ain't got to pose and make all your veins pop out and all that, but you can be telling somebody, 'Hey, I was once in your place at one point in time, as well."