Muhammad Ali Funeral: A Recap Of How The Champ Was Remembered By Friends And Family [Video]
“Ali! Ali!” was the chant of the more than 15,000 people who gathered at Muhammad Ali’s funeral inside the KFC Yum! Center sports arena of Louisville to pay their respects to the former heavyweight boxing champ. ABC reports that more than 100,000 people had lined the streets of the funeral procession in tribute. The public memorial portion of the funeral service took place following a private burial.
Ali’s funeral was a full mix of friends, family, fans, and political, religious, athletic, and entertainment celebrities. Will Smith, who starred in Ali, a film based on Muhammad Ali’s biography, and fellow former boxing heavyweight champs Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis had the honor of being a pall bearers, according to Telegraph. Former President Bill Clinton and comedian Billy Crystal joined Muhammad’s wife Lonnie and an array of interfaith representatives including Orrin Hatch and Pastor Kevin Crosby onstage to remember the impact the elite athlete had on humanity.
“It’s very hard to describe how much he (Muhammad Ali) meant to me. You had to live in his time,” comedian Billy Crystal somberly stated in his eulogy of the former boxing champ. Crystal went on to discuss the athletic prowess of Ali. “He was the most perfect athlete you ever saw…and those were his own words.”
Billy Crystal’s poignant remembrance of Muhammad Ali was full of laughter and a joyful recollection not only of Ali’s achievements as an athlete but also of his personality traits and strongly held beliefs that endeared him to so many.
Perhaps one of the most telling moments of Ali’s legacy came during Crystal’s eulogy in which he said, “Muhammad taught us that life is better when we build bridges between people, not walls.” Muhammad Ali was well known and respected in many religious and political circles for his generosity and kindness to others.
Bill Clinton touted Ali’s tenacity in overcoming racial and social injustices that could’ve sent him on a different path in life. “He decided very young to write his own life story. He decided he would not ever be disempowered.”
According to Biography, Muhammad Ali (whose birth name was Cassius Clay) grew up in a segregated and prejudicial part of Kentucky. At 12 years old, a frustrated Ali expressed to a white police officer that he wanted to beat up the thief that had stolen his bicycle. It was that officer’s advice that Muhammad should learn to fight and his subsequent mentorship of the young Muhammad that got Ali started on the path to his boxing career. From an early age, Muhammad Ali was breaking barriers and unifying people.
Muhammad’s wife, Lonnie Ali, bravely took the stage in front of the massive crowd and through her grief was able to let the life of the champ shine. “The rich and powerful were drawn to him,” Lonnie Ali remarked, “but he was drawn to the poor and forgotten.”
And how true that statement was. Muhammad Ali spent the majority of his retirement from boxing helping those less fortunate, though he himself was struggling with the effects of Parkinson’s disease.
A prominent supporter of Special Olympics and Make-a-Wish, Ali also spent many years traveling to third-world countries helping those in need. In 1998, Muhammad was chosen as a United Nations Messenger of Peace, and in 2005, Ali received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush.
Survived by nine children, Muhammad Ali’s legacy goes beyond that of an ordinary man; it is a tale of an ordinary person who grew up to lead an extraordinary life. From his boxing championships to his stance on the Vietnam War to his hope for world peace, judging by the high praise at his funeral and the worldwide response to the loss of him, it is clear how Muhammad Ali earned the moniker “The Greatest.”
To view the Muhammad Ali memorial in its entirety, click here.
[Cover image of Lonnie and Laila Ali at Islamic Prayer Service for Muhammad Ali funeral via John Moore/Getty Images.]
