Detroit By Night
The Labyrinth at Howard Johnsons
Joe Louis Fist
"Making a statue of a fighter would have been a limited image of Joe Louis," said Robert Graham,
the sculptor responsible for Detroit's monument to the late heavyweight boxing champ. Instead
Graham created a 24-foot bronze arm and fist suspended from pyramidal support beams that stand
24 feet tall. His Monument to Joe Louis at Jefferson and Woodward, commissioned with a $350,000
grant from Sports Illustrated magazine, came as a gift to the city.
The work became controversial immediately at its unveiling in October 1987. Some interpreted it as a
symbol of black power. Some wanted to know why the fist lacked a boxing glove. Others likened it to a
stray body part. Still others voiced concern that the sculpture didn't reflect what their Brown Bomber
meant to the city of Detroit.
Graham said, "People bring their own experiences to the sculpture. I wanted to leave the image open,
allowing it to become a symbol rather than make it specific."
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