Boxing great Joe Louis’ Alabama hometown of LaFayette to erect bronze statue in his honor
By APMonday, February 22, 2010
Alabama hometown to unveil statue of Joe Louis
LAFAYETTE, Ala. — Joe Louis’ hometown plans to unveil a statue of the boxing great on Saturday.
The eight-foot bronze statue is on a base of Alabama red granite and will be erected outside the Chambers County Courthouse in LaFayette.
The boxer’s son, Joe Louis Barrow Jr., and other family members are expected to attend the unveiling in the town of about 3,000, some 80 miles east of Montgomery.
Residents raised about $60,000 over three years to honor Louis.
Fundraiser James Hardy says people mostly know of Louis’s days growing up in Detroit and aren’t aware that he lived in LaFayette until he was 10. He’s hoping the statue will remedy that.
In Detroit, a 24-foot bronze arm and fist was sculpted in his honor in the 1980s, and the NHL’s Red Wings play in Joe Louis Arena.
