“But when we think about the legacy of Muhammad Ali, what he did in the ring is not what we think about”, said Smith. The mayor also said that Ali’s hearse will be driven through the streets of Louisville before a private burial at Cave Hill, the city’s largest cemetery.
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Muhammad Ali began crafting details of his own funeral years ago, insisting on an open and inclusive service, a family spokesman said Tuesday.
A procession will carry his body down an avenue in Louisville that bears his name, through his boyhood neighborhood and down Broadway, the scene of the parade that honored the brash young man – then known as Cassius Clay – for his gold medal at the 1960 Olympics.
Doctors say the Parkinson’s was probably caused by the thousands of punches Ali took during a career which saw him win 56 of his 61 bouts. I don’t know, but I was not alone * Muhammad Ali dies: Who would deny the “greatest” his immortality?
Sport describe the former heavyweight champion, who was banned from boxing for three years for refusing induction to the United States army during the Vietnam war, as the “King of the world”.
Fans gathered yesterday at his modest childhood home on Grand Avenue, which has been converted to a museum, and at the Muhammad Ali Center, a cultural and educational venue, to pay their respects.
The interfaith memorial service will include clerics from several religions, he said. Sen.
George Foreman III, who now runs the Everybody Fights Boxing Gym in South Boston, says Ali’s death is a loss to the world.
Gunnell said California imam and scholar Zaid Shakir will preside over the service at the KFC Yum!
Ali’s family said the funeral would be open to the public to “allow anyone that is there from the world to say goodbye”. The other half was committed to sharing a message of people and inclusion with the world.
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REUTERS/Jorge NunezA smiling Muhammad Ali shows his fist to reporters during an impromptu press conference in Mexico City July 9, 1987.In a speech delivered Saturday in California, Clinton remembered Ali lighting the Olympic torch in Atlanta as his hands shook due to his Parkinson’s Disease. Eulogies from Ali’s wife Lonnie, Billy Crystal and President Bill Clinton are planned for the 2 p.m. ET service, which will be preceded by a public procession.
