Celebrities, politicians, fans, -- Everyone flocked as Muhammad Ali made his final journey.
Muhammad Ali made his final journey through his hometown Friday in a funeral procession for The Greatest, open for thousands of mourners of celebrities and fans lined down the streets where the future heavyweight champion of the world once chased school buses in hiking boots to train for his fights.
Granting Ali's wishes, the funeral was allowed to be open to ordinary fans and not only for VIPs. And as a result, thousands of free tickets were made available and were snatched up within an hour.
His cherry-red casket, draped in an Islamic shroud, was loaded into a hearse as a group of grievers that included former boxers Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis and actor Will Smith left the funeral home in a double file. Ali's nine children, his wife, two of his ex-wives and other family members joined along the motorcade.
The 17-car motorcade set out for a Louisville, Kentucky cemetery on a 19-mile route that took Ali's body past the little pink house where he grew up and the museum that bears his name. Along the route of Muhammad Ali Boulevard were an estimated number 100,000 mourners pumped their firsts and chanted, "Ali! Ali!"
Fans stood on cars, held up cellphones, signs and T-shirts, tossed flowers and scattered rose petals, doing everything they could just to get a final glimpse as the champ went by. It was almost like it's just another Ali fight. Truckers honked their horns in salute. While others just watch reverently in silence.
A private graveside service was held in the afternoon which his headstone simple inscribed with "Ali," keeping it simple keeping with Islamic tradition. It was followed later by a grand memorial service at a sports arena packed with celebrities, athletes and politicians, including former President Bill Clinton, Billy Crystal, Spike Lee, Arnold Schwarzenegger, David Backham, Woopi Goldberg and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
About 15,000 people applause and chanted, "Ali! Ali!" when a Muslim religious leader welcomed the audience to "the home of the people's champ."
It was then followed by ice breakers by Crystal, cracking up everyone up with his career-making impersonation of Ali.
"He was funny. He was beautiful. He was the most perfect athlete you ever saw," the comedian said. "And those were his own words."
"Muhammad Ali taught us life is best when you build bridges between people, not walls." He added, relating it to Ali's last strong words against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump and being known as one of the people who firmly fights for every races' rights.
TV journalist Bryant Gumbel lamented that the three-time heavyweight champion has finally gone down. "And for once he won't get up. Not this time. He is down."
President Barack Obama was unable to make the trip because his daughter Malia is graduating from high school Valerie Jarrett, a senior White House adviser, planned to read a letter from Obama at the service.
Clinton closed out the memorial service by calling Ali a "truly free man of faith" who took "perfect gifts we all have" and released them to the world.
He also noted that Ali never felt self-pity because of the Parkinson's disease he battled for three decades, and that he continued to give himself to the world long after his diagnosis as "a universal soldier for our common humanity." Saying, "I think Ali decided at a very young age to write his own story. He never got credit for being as smart as he was."
Ali, the most magnetic and controversial athlete of the 20th century, died last Friday at 74 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. A traditional funeral was held Thursday, with an estimated 6,000 admirers arriving from all over the world.
Ali chose the cemetery, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, as his final resting place a decade ago. Its 130,000 graves represents a who's who of Kentucky, including Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Harland Sanders.
The Ali Center soon stopped charging admission and sightseeing company began tours of Ali's path through the city. Businesses printed his quotes across their billboards and city buses flashed "Ali -- The Greatest" in orange lights. A downtown bridge will be illuminated the rest of the week in red and gold, symbolizing red for his boxing gloves and gold for his Olympic medal.
Source: Hollywood Reporter Fox Sports ABC
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