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Louisville said goodbye to its most famous son with an overpowering show of love and pride.
Tens of thousands took to the sweltering streets, cheering, applauding, fist-pumping, throwing flowers at Muhammad Ali ’s hearse.
They were kissing it, touching it, shadow boxing with it, running alongside it the way the teenage boxer used to chase buses along the same stretches of tarmac, and filling the hot Kentucky air with a single chant of “Ali, Ali, Ali.”
At times so many people rushed the 18-strong motorcade on the 23-mile route past special landmarks in Ali’s life, it had to wind down to a crawl – giving people the chance to shake hands through open windows with family members and stars like Will Smith , who played Ali in the 2001 movie.
Such was the aura of the man, even in death he was showing us he was The Greatest.
This funeral was Ali’s farewell statement to the world. One he had planned meticulously for years. One he had said everyone was invited to.
And they came from every continent like pilgrims to a religious gathering to mourn the loss, but also celebrate the life of Ali, who died a week ago , aged 74, after battling Parkinson’s for more than 30 years.
The procession, which went down Muhammad Ali Boulevard and past his old school and boxing gym was due to take 90 minutes, but took more than two hours, ending at Cave Hill cemetery where he was interred in a private ceremony.
The Brits he so loved were represented by former world heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis, who carried the coffin, along with Mike Tyson, Smith, his old sparring partner Jerry Ellis and relatives.
Tyson, who had at first declined to attend because he was too grief stricken, said during the procession: “God came for his champion. So long great one.”
At the Muhammad Ali Center in a packed Downtown Louisville, the hearse carrying Ali’s burial casket paused for two minutes for silent reflection.
A shrine outside had mushroomed bearing flowers, signed boxing gloves, butterflies, framed photos, balloons and messages of love from around the world. One stood out: “Farewell to the last Great American Hero.”
On Louisville’s Main Street Ali’s famous quotes “I am The Greatest” and “Float like a butterfly sting like a bee” were chalked in big letters along the pavement.
Throughout the city all week flags had flown at half-mast on public buildings. There were posters on bridges and banners hanging off lampposts saying “Louisville Honors Our Champ.”
A plane flew across the clear blue sky trailing a banner “Mohammad Ali – The Greatest.” The same words that were flashed up on the front of every bus.
As the city came to a standstill to applaud its greatest son it felt like watching a lap of honour for a life we were honoured to have been blessed with.
What other sportsman would get this send-off? What other man? Many globally famous entertainers have died this year like Prince and David Bowie, but the outpouring of love for them and scale of their
The most poignant part of the route was 3302 Grand Avenue, Ali’s small, pink wooden childhood home.
Crowds were 10-deep. Here in the bosom of the mostly black community everyone you spoke to hailed him as a visionary and a prophet.
Jerry Hines, 76, told me: “He showed all of us black people, who back then were living segregated lives, that you didn’t have to take this inhumanity. He was our beacon of light and hope.”
That was a reminder of Ali’s bittersweet relationship with his home town.
As a child he was forced to attend an all-black school, and where, upon returning as Olympic Champion in 1960, he was refused service in a whites-only restaurant, causing him to throw his gold medal in the Ohio River.
Following the burial there was a memorial service to celebrate his life at the city’s basketball stadium, packed with 15,500 ticket-holders, who had queued for hours.
It began with Koranic chanting presided by Imam Zaid Shakir, with all major faiths represented.
Protestant minister Kevin Cosby, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Rabbi Joe Rapport and Mormon Senator Orrin Hatch all spoke, adhering to Ali’s wishes that his final statement to the world should be one of unity.
US politicians and foreign dignitaries including King Abdullah II of Jordan were present.
Family eulogies were read by Ali’s widow Lonnie, family friend John Ramsey and two of his nine children, daughters Rasheda and Maryum, who described her father as “a big ball of love”.
Other speakers were Ali’s long-time pal, comedian Billy Crystal, Malcolm X’s daughter Attallah Shabazz and sportscaster Bryant Gumbel. President Barack Obama, who was at his daughter’s graduation, sent a heart-felt message.
America has held plenty of huge funerals in recent decades but for those who attended Ali’s along with many millions around the world – none of them were bigger than this.
Because Ali was not just a world-class sportsman, entertainer and human rights activist. He was all three.
The words “We will never see his like again” have never seemed such an inadequate understatement.
Photos: Courtesy
