The world has said a final farewell to Muhammad Ali.
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President Bill Clinton, comedian Billy Crystal and sportscaster Bryant Gumbel are scheduled to give their fondest memories of Ali during eulogies. Other guests of note include Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and King Abdullah II of Jordan. “Boxers need money a form of employment but today they have nothing”, said 63 years old Kent, who is now living in a poor suburb after falling on hard times.Although Muhammad Ali has thrown his final punch, his memory will be long cherished by millions.
The legacy of Muhammad Ali was the topic of sermons all across the Twin Cities, the example he set more important now than ever before.
Prior to the procession, the actor reveals he had the chance to talk to boxers and fellow pallbearers Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis and swap stories about the late fighter many believe to be the Greatest of All Time (G.O.A.T.).
In tribute to Ali’s once-controversial stance on the Vietnam War, and his impact as a civil rights activist, his long-time friend said: “Muhammad Ali struck us in the middle of America’s darkest night”. Center in Louisville, Kentucky-Ali’s hometown.
Will admits he was blown away by the thousands who lined the streets of Louisville to pay their last respects as Ali’s casket travelled to the KFC Yum!
Bridget McKay, 45, also at the cemetery gates, said she felt drawn to witness history.
Now the legendary three-time world heavyweight champion and social campaigner has also passed, and our sister title, Boxing News, has produced The Greatest, a 168-page tribute bookazine, in Ali’s honour.
Tens of thousands took to the streets for a 19-mile parade honoring Ali before the ceremony – turning the tragedy of his death into a celebration of a life well lived. “And saying, ‘I told you I was the greatest!’ No one compares to you, Daddy”, she said. “I think he decided something I hope every young person here will decide”.
Ali’s widow, Lonnie Ali, took the stage to thunderous chants of “Ali! It is the choices that Muhammad Ali made are what brought us all here today”.
“Before James Brown said, ‘I’m black and I’m proud, ‘ Muhammad Ali said, ‘I’m black and I’m pretty, ‘” Cosby, pastor of a Louisville church, said. His cause of death was “septic shock due to unspecified natural causes”, family spokesman Bob Gunnell said. He was our most basic freedoms: “religion, speech, spirit”.
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At the oldest mosque in Georgia, the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam, where Ali worshiped when he was in town, people gathered for an interfaith service early Thursday evening.
