While in Denver for its 175th Anniversary Tour, Pacific University took possession of a replica of Boxer II — itself a recreation of the (pictured) original Boxer statue. (Submitted by Martha Calus-McLain)

It turns out Pacific University’s second long-lost mascot actually has a twin.

Boxer II, the subsequent iteration of the bronze incense burner that was abducted in 1969, met the same fate as its predecessor when a student was jumped and the statue was taken in 2007.

But unlike the first Boxer — which was recovered after nearly six decades of mystery and returned to the Forest Grove campus in 2024 — its sequel hasn’t seen the light of day since it vanished.

Until now. (Well, sort of.)

In the 1980s, three Forest Grove students commissioned artist Pat Costello to recreate Boxer in hopes of reviving campus tradition. But unbeknownst to many, Costello cast not one, but two identical versions of Boxer II.

Until this June, that second casting had been resting in the garden of Costello’s parents’ home in Denver, Colorado. As the family members packed up to move to Florida, they decided it was time to part ways with it — handing it over to Pacific during the university’s 175th Anniversary Tour stop in the city.

A symbol with scars

Despite the name, Boxer isn’t a fighter or a dog. The original statue, gifted to the university in the late 1800s, represents a qilin (pronounced chee-lin): a mythical creature from Chinese folklore with the head of a dragon, hooves of a horse, antlers of a stag and the scales of a carp. It became Pacific’s unofficial symbol before the university made it official, replacing the school’s badger mascot in the 1960s.

Over the years, Boxer became the center of campus mythos. Students would wrestle for possession of the statue in chaotic “Boxer tosses” — often leaving with ripped shirts, scars and stories that would be told for decades.

Boxer II and its twin are essentially identical, though the copy bears a tinge of green patina after years spent among the soil and shrubs in the family’s garden.

Notably, the second castings are much larger and less ornate than the original statue — or the third version (aptly named Boxer III) that Costello would later create in 2018 — due to the fact that he had only a single reference photo to work from.

“The twin is a twin — it feels and looks identical to Boxer II,” Martha Calus-McLain, associate vice president overseeing alumni relations and advancement operations at Pacific University, said. “It is a very heavy, solid mass of metal. There is no way a human, no matter how vigorous the toss is, could pull apart Boxer II.”

Not the ‘real deal’

Although Pacific now holds what seems to be a stand-in for Boxer II, university leaders are quick to clarify it’s no true replacement.

“When we showed it in Denver, one of our trustees, Dan James, from class of ’87, saw it from across the room and just erupted,” Calus-McLain said. “We had to say, ‘no, it actually isn’t Boxer II,’ and it isn’t even really a Boxer in the same way that the other ones are.”

“It’s a twin, but it’s a long-lost twin,” she continued. “It wasn’t part of the Pacific family until we brought it to campus a few weeks ago. And so we want the real deal.”

The one that got away

The case remains cold in the search for the real Boxer II — the statue actually tied to decades of student stories. A single photo, showing it beside two dogs on a sidewalk in an unknown location, is the last known image of the replica.

“I don’t know that we have any leads; we certainly have a lot of interest,” Calus-McLain said. “There are many of us who were there in the era of Boxer II. So it’s special and meaningful … Even though it was a replica, it’s still really a big part of the Pacific experience.”

“There is a keen interest to have a complete collection, to be able to say they have held and been photographed with all three versions of the statue,” she said.

Plans for displaying both the twin and Boxer III are still undecided, Calus-McLain said. At this point, the university is focused on creating a permanent exhibit for the original Boxer and the many pieces recovered over years of campus tosses.

“Our intent is to display those, most likely in the lower level of Marsh Hall so that they’re very prominent and easy to see and also easy to photograph,” she said. “Beyond that, we have not really talked much about how we’ll display any of the others.”