Public procession to bid goodbye to Ali on Friday

Former US president Bill Clinton, comedian Billy Crystal and sports journalist Bryant Gumbel will offer eulogies for Ali, the three-time world heavyweight champion who died on Friday at age 74 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. 

A small family funeral will precede the public service on Thursday, spokesman Bob Gunnell told reporters in Scottsdale, Arizona. “A rather large funeral procession will take Muhammad Ali through the streets of Louisville to allow anyone that is there from the world to say goodbye,” Gunnell said. He noted that Ali himself had requested much of the planned service, which is to be conducted in accordance with Muslim tradition and in the presence of an Imam. 

That public parade will end at Cave Hill Cemetery, where Ali will be buried. The official cause of death was “septic shock due to unspecified natural causes,” Gunnell said. “His final hours were spent with just immediate family,” he added. “He did not suffer.” President Barack Obama led tributes from around the world to the iconic fighter.