According to Fox Sports, Ali’s funeral service will be held on June 10 in Louisville, Kentucky, where not only the speaker’s list will be filled with the famous but so will the audience.
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It will be preceded by a Jenazah – an Islamic funeral prayer programme – also for the public at midday on Thursday at the Freedom Hall, where Ali made his professional debut with victory over Tunney Hunsaker in 1960 and fought for the last time in Louisville against Willi Besmanoff a year later. Comedian Billy Crystal and longtime sportscaster Bryant Gumbel will deliver remarks at Ali’s service. Center, only 15.500 tickets will be available to the public for that segment of the services.
The Rev. Wanda McIntyre, who presided over the early service, said it reminded her that he believed above all in living life with tolerance and an open heart. He wanted everyone to be able to attend.
“We want this to be inclusive of everyone”.
Rahaman Ali took centre stage at the two-hour, high-energy service at King Solomon Missionary Baptist Church, sitting in a front-row pew with his wife, Caroline.
The president of Turkey and king of Jordan joined the long line of world leaders, religious figures and superstars set to speak at Muhammad Ali’s funeral Friday.
Ali, formerly named Cassius Clay, died in Phoenix, Arizona, at the age of 74 on Friday evening local time.
The Ali family has announced that up to 33,500 seats are reserved for mourners at Freedom Hall.
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One of Ali’s closest friends in the Valley was businessman Jimmy Walker, with whom he teamed up for the annual Celebrity Fight Night charity event which raised millions for Barrow over the years and helped it grow into one of the largest Parkinson’s treatment centers in the world.
