(ATR) The world says goodbye to Muhammad Ali.
A procession through his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky launched this day of remembrance for the heavyweight champion and 1960 Olympic gold medalist.
The 19 mile route is lined with thousands of people to see the hearse carrying the casket of Ali. He died June 3 in Arizona where he was in a hospital to treat a respiratory infection. Ali was 74 and lived with Parkinson’s disease for the better part of 30 years.
The funeral procession ended at Cave Hill Cemetery where a private burial service was held for family members. No media coverage is allowed and funeral organizers warned TV crews not to intrude with helicopter coverage.
About 2000 media from around the world are in Louisville to cover the farewell to the boxer.
Following the burial, 20,000 people will gather for a memorial service at the KFC YUM! Center. The two-hour service will be covered live by broadcasters worldwide as well as streamed via the Internet.
Former heavyweight champions MikeTyson and Lennox Lewis are among the notable peers of Ali who will come to pay their respects. The two boxers are pallbearers. A fellow Olympian from the 1960 Games in Rome made the trek from Italy, Nino Benvenuti, who won the middleweight category gold medal.
Eulogies at the memorial service will come from former U.S. President Bill Clinton, comedian Billy Crystal and broadcaster Bryant Gumbel.
King Abdullah II of Jordan is in Louisville, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan left Thursday. He is said to be angry over being denied a chance to speak at the Friday memorial. Organizers say there was not enough time to include other speeches.
IOC President Thomas Bach will attend the memorial service and later present an IOC flag to widow Lonnie Ali. U.S. IOC members Anita DeFrantz and Larry Probst have also traveled to Kentucky for the tribute.
Along with his Olympic gold medal, Ali is famed for lighting the cauldron for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Janet Evans, the U.S. swimming great, was a last torchbearer to relay the flame to Ali. Now a leader of the Los Angeles bid for the 2024 Olympics, Evans is one of the thousands from around the world who have come to Louisville to farewell the champion.
Written and reported in Louisville by Ed Hulaand Kevin Nutley.
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