World Art Utopia

Rocky Balboa Statue — Boris Staparac, Žitište

A Rocky Balboa statue raises both fists on a stone pedestal marked ROCKY in a leafy park in Žitište, Serbia
Artwork FileŽitište, Serbia

Rocky Balboa Statue

SeenAug 2021

Boris Staparac · unveiled August 2007 · town centre, Žitište, Vojvodina, Serbia

Photo: Зинтарис / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), 26 August 2021, as published on Street Art Utopia.

A three-metre statue of the boxer Rocky Balboa, made by Croatian sculptor Boris Staparac, was unveiled in the centre of the Banat village of Žitište, Serbia, in August 2007 during the Chicken Fest. Local young people campaigned for it to give the flood-hit village a new image, and it has been the town’s landmark since. Source Source Source Source Checked

Seen Aug 2021: the newest dated photo, taken on 26 August 2021, shows the statue in place Source Checked

💡 4 things to know

  1. A rebrand for a flood villageŽitište was known in Serbia for floods and landslides; the young locals behind the statue wanted to boost the village’s spirits and profile. Source Source Checked
  2. Concrete, not bronzeMost sources, including the regional tourist board, describe it as modeled concrete; Wikipedia and NBC call it bronze (NBC: bronze and concrete). We lean concrete, possibly with a bronze-toned finish. Source Source Source Source Conflicting
  3. A sculptor working for freeBoris Staparac from Dalj made the figure without a fee; Culture Trip puts the cost at about EUR 5,000. The original Rocky sculptor, A. Thomas Schomberg, had to approve the project. Source Source Source Reported
  4. Filmed for Amerika IdolThe campaign and unveiling were filmed by a Canadian crew for the 2009 documentary Amerika Idol. Source Source Checked

📍 Where it is

Central square of Žitište (the ‘Park zabranjene umetnosti’, Park of Forbidden Art, in the town centre), Žitište, Central Banat District, Vojvodina, Serbia Source Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

Opens a map at 45.48318, 20.55244.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 20079 Feb

    Young locals prepare Rocky association

  2. 200718 Aug

    Unveiled at Chicken Fest

  3. 200718 Sep

    Photographed weeks after unveiling

  4. 201012 May

    Vreme: 3 m, 6 m with pedestal

  5. 202126 Aug

    Photographed on the square

  6. 202218 Aug

    Fifteenth anniversary marked in local press

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

Vreme12 May 2010

Junaci naseg doba

“visok tri metra, sa postamentom čak i šest, težak tonu”

three metres tall, with its pedestal as much as six, weighing a ton

Read the source →

NBC NewsAug 2007

Serbian village unveils Rocky Balboa statue

“Now, no one in Serbia can say they don’t know about Zitiste.”

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Sculptor
Boris Staparac (Croatia, from Dalj) Source Source Source Checked
Unveiled
18 August 2007, at the Chicken Fest (some reports give 19 August) Source Source Source Conflicting
Initiated by
Young residents of Žitište, organised as a Rocky Balboa association Source Source Source Checked
Height
About 3 m (10 ft); about 6 m with pedestal Source Source Source Checked
Material
Modeled concrete (most sources) vs bronze (Wikipedia; NBC says bronze and concrete) Source Source Source Conflicting
Weight
About one ton Source Reported
Cost
About EUR 5,000; sculptor waived his fee; funded by donations Source Source Reported
Address
Central square / park in the centre of Žitište, Central Banat, Vojvodina, Serbia Source Source Checked
Status
In place: photographed 26 Aug 2021 Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 6 November 2026 · How we verify art