Thousands of mourners expected at Muhammad Ali funeral

Foreman had succeeded Ali as the world heavyweight champion and as an Olympic gold medallist with victory at the 1968 Games in Mexico City.

Muhammad Ali died on Friday at 74, according to a statement from the family. Ali spent the final hour of his life surrounded by his family after initially being hospitalized in the Phoenix area on May 30.

“Ali has always been an enormous inspiration to me, not only in my boxing career, but also in life”. On mobile? Tap here to view the timeline.

The Islamic service on Thursday will take place in the 18,000-seat Freedom Hall that hosted Ali’s last fight in Louisville, in which he beat Willi Besmanoff, in 1961.

At services all over town, they recited Ali’s words on religion: “Rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, oceans all have different names, but they all contain water”, Ali once said.

Bursting onto the boxing scene in the 1960s with a brashness that threatened many whites, Aliwould come to be embraced by Americans of all races for his grace, integrity and disarming sense of humor. “Very quietly, he said, ‘I’m sorry you have this [disease], but with you in the fight, we have a better chance of winning'”.

The doctor said he did not hear Ali blame boxing for his illness.

“All his kids and grand kids were there, we were with him in Arizona, and he was bright-eyed and alert and had a great day”, she said, adding of her two kids, “…I have to stay strong and teach them about celebrating life and moving on and all of that because it’s a part of life”.

Ali had been pondering and preparing his own funeral for years, given the disease that ravaged his once-powerful body. In standing up for human rights, and not going to the Vietnam War.

Gene Kilroy, Ali’s business manager and the only surviving member of the inner circle that once included his trainer Angelo Dundee, cornerman Drew “Bundini” Brown and assistant Walter Youngblood, later known as Wali Muhammad, earlier told of his sadness at his great friend’s death.

Nearby, hundreds more gazed at projections of phrases and images most associated with Ali, such as “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer told AFP that the city – whose residents have left flowers, balloons and tributes at Ali’s childhood home – was ready for a massive celebration to honor its most famous son.

Ali’s funeral will be held on Friday in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. He called himself “The Greatest”. “Joe Frazier is so ugly that when he cries, the tears turn around and go down the back of his head”, he once said about his arch rival.

The 15-year-old wasn’t sure if he’d ever see him again and wanted to leave nothing unsaid.

“And if all that’s too much, then I guess I’d settle for being remembered only as a great boxer who became a leader and a champion of his people. And I wouldn’t even mind if folks forgot how pretty I was”.

Ali – born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr on January 17, 1942 – dazzled fans with slick moves in the ring and his wit and engaging persona outside it.

The boxer, who had nine children, died with his family around his hospital bed.