Will Smith, David Beckham and Spike Lee were among the huge crowds who turned out to pay their respects for the late, great Muhammad Ali at a memorial service in his home town of Louisville, Kentucky.
Tens of thousands of fans lined the streets, chanting “Ali! Ali!” as the hearse travelled 19 miles through Loiusville to honour the boxing great.
David Beckham (David Goldman/PA)
The casket, covered in a cloth bearing Arabic writing, was placed into the hearse by pallbearers, who included Hollywood star Will Smith and former boxers Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, before it left the funeral home.
The procession then travelled along Muhammad Ali Boulevard, passing the Muhammad Ali Centre and his childhood home as fans threw flowers towards the vehicle carrying Ali’s body.
As huge crowds waited in sweltering heat for the procession to pass, some of Ali’s family and friends in the cars following the hearse waved to people watching from the roadside.
Will Smith (David Goldman/PA)
US president Barack Obama, who missed the funeral to attend his daughter Malia’s high school graduation ceremony, described Ali as “an icon” and a “personal hero” who transformed “not just the world of sport, but the world as a whole”.
NBA executive Pat Riley (David Goldman/PA)
In a video message, Obama said: “It’s very rare when a figure captures the imagination of the entire world. It’s even rarer when that figure does so by being open and funny and generous and courageous.
“He was one of a kind. In my book, he’ll always be the greatest.”
Obama and his wife Michelle sent a letter to be read at the service, where White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett – who knew Ali personally – represented the president.
Former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger (David Goldman/PA)
Murad Qureshi said he and and his brother-in-law Adam Shabbir made the 4,000-mile trip from London to pay respects to “The Greatest”.
He told the Press Association: “I remember when my father passed away, I said the only other funeral I would want to be at would be Muhammad Ali’s one.
“Very simply, he’s the greatest. He’s had a phenomenal influence on a lot of our lives – not just in the sporting arena as the world heavyweight champion three times, but also as a civil rights campaigner and a conscientious objector.”
Spike Lee, left, speaks to Former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai (David Goldman/PA)
Up to 18,000 people attended the huge public memorial at the KFC Yum! Centre, with the ceremony broadcast to millions of viewers around the world.
Former US president Bill Clinton was delivering the eulogy, while Ali’s widow Lonnie and two of his nine children, daughters Rasheda and Maryum, were addressing the congregation.
Lennox Lewis (David Goldman/PA)
The pallbearers included Jerry Ellis – the brother of Jimmy Ellis, Ali’s former sparring partner and fellow world heavyweight champion – and Ali’s cousins John Grady and Jan Wadell, nephew Ibn Ali, former brother-in-law Komawi Ali and family friend John Ramsey.
The funeral was live-streamed on the internet as well as being shown at London’s 02 Arena, the site of his I Am The Greatest Exhibition.
(Mark Humphrey/AP)
Some ticket-holders for the funeral have been criticised for trying to profit from the free event by selling tickets online.
Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell said he was “personally disgusted” at attempts to profit from Ali’s funeral and urged people not to buy the tickets.
A traditional Islamic prayer service was held for Ali on Thursday at Freedom Hall, where Ali made his professional debut with victory over Tunney Hunsaker in 1960.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article