Actor Will Smith and former boxing world champion Lennox Lewis will serve as pallbearers together with six other people during Muhammad Ali’s funeral Friday, a spokesman said.
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Gregorio Binuya/Getty ImagesWill Smith, who portrayed Muhummad Ali in the 2001 film Ali, posted a moving tribute to the late champ on Facebook over the weekend.
Official events start with a private ceremony on Thursday, followed by an Islamic service for the public at Freedom Hall, the site of Ali’s last professional fight in Louisville, where he defeated Willi Besmanoff on November 29, 1961.
John Ramsey-Muhammad, the boxer’s former friend, and the brother of Jimmy Ellis, Ali’s former sparring partner will also act as pallbearers.
Friday’s service, which will be attended by a number of world leaders, heads of state and celebrities, will be open to the public and streamed live on the internet. It starts at 19:00 BST.
Former US President Bill Clinton will deliver a eulogy while comedian Billy Crystal and sports journalist Bryant Gumbel are also expected to speak. Family spokesman Bob Gunnell announced the details of the memorial services on Monday. He wanted everyone to be able to attend. That’s why we set Freedom Hall – not just with its historical significance but with the size of Freedom Hall, so that everyone fits in.
“This is not a political statement, this is not about politics, this is about how Muhammad Ali lived his life”.
One of the transcendent figures of the 20th century, Ali died on Friday at age 74.
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Smith honoured Ali at last year’s (15) Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year ceremony, where the Legacy Award was renamed the Sports Illustrated Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. “And every time one slips away, you feel like you’ve lost a piece, and Muhammad Ali was the greatest piece of all”. As an actor, for four or five months at a time, I get to wear people’s lives, so I got to wear Muhammad Ali’s greatness.
