Muhammad Ali to take his final journey #JHedzWorlD

Muhammad Ali to take his final journey #JHedzWorlD

Ali died at the age of 74 a week ago. Three days of funeral proceedings began Wednesday with a downtown festival called “I Am Ali.”

‘He was this city’s hero’: Louisville remembers Muhammad Ali

It was Ali who planned his own funeral, laying out plans several years back. True to his giant character, he wanted it as open as possible — with a chance for his fans to say goodbye. Several of the events, including Thursday’s prayer service, Friday’s procession and memorial service, were made available to the public. In that spirit of openness, Friday’s memorial service, which begins at 2 p.m., will be streamed live from www.alicenter.org.

Former President Bill Clinton, sportscaster Bryant Gumbel and comedian Billy Crystal are among those expected to deliver eulogies. Clinton awarded Ali the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001. Both Crystal and Gumbel shared a friendship with the boxer that spanned decades.

Eulogies will also be delivered by Ali’s widow Lonnie Ali, his daughter Maryum Ali, University of Louisville student Natasha Mundkur and family friend John Ramsey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also expected to attend the ceremony.

The memorial service will be held at the KFC Yum! Center arena, where Ali began his amateur boxing career as a 12-year-old. The arena holds up to 22,000 people. Many of the public attendees started lining up on Tuesday for a chance to get tickets.

The high demand fueled scalpers who were trying to profit from selling funeral tickets. Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell had called their attempts to cash in “despicable” and “deplorable.”

The service embraces many religious faiths including an opening reading from the Quran by scholar and the family’s religious adviser Iman Shakir. Then a Protestant minister, two rabbis, a representative from the Catholic Church, a representative from the Buddhist religion and Sen. Orrin Hatch (representing the Mormon faith) will speak, followed by a poetry reading.

World Heavyweight Boxing Champion and pallbearer at Muhammad Ali’s funeral, Lennox Lewis told CNN that Ali gave an enduring message to kids.

“It was a serious time in American history,” Lewis said. “And he taught, he gave a lot of young kid and kids that have no money, he gave them hope and he told them that they were beautiful as well. So everyone can remember Muhammad Ali using that term — ‘You’re beautiful.’”

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Muhammad Ali to take his final journey #JHedzWorlD