The long goodbye to Louisville, his hometown, began Muhammad Aliwhich will last two days. In Kentucky the boxer's funeral began on Thursday with an Islamic rite ceremony, the religion to which he had converted in 1964, at the age of 22, after winning his first world title. Ali, who died at the age of 74 last Saturday, had asked to receive a last respect in his hometown in the heart of the United States. The coffin with Ali's body was displayed yesterday morning in a suburban area of Louisville, in order to give over 16.000 people the opportunity to attend the funeral rite.
The former American president also participates in the rite, Bill Clinton, and comedian Billy Crystal, though organizers have said they won't release the full guest list. The New York Times in his farewell to the champion wrote: “Ali was able to “transcend the sport by becoming a protagonist of a turbulent historical period”. Muhammad Ali was in fact a political figure, a man devoted to Islam, a fighter for civil rights. And often a pop icon, depicted in thousands of images, looking into the camera and fist in close-up”.
