Yeah, I’m late on this one: the Monument to Joe Louis, by sculptor Robert Graham, was inaugurated October 16, 1986. Sue me.

Look at it. A couple of racist idiots doused it with white paint in 2004. “The Fist” just laughs. Like a few cans of paint could ever make a difference, could somehow diminish its power.

From “The Greatest” to the greatest…

Whatever I said before, I don’t mean it, 'cause Joe Louis was the greatest.

Look at Joe’s life. Everybody loved Joe. He would have been marked as evil if he was evil, but everybody loved Joe. From black folks to red-neck Mississippi crackers, they loved him. They’re all crying. That shows you. Howard Hughes dies, with all his billions, not a tear. Joe Louis, everybody cried.

– Muhammad Ali