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View Full Version : Will Elvis show up at Muhammad Ali's funeral???



Daworm
06-04-2016, 04:52 PM
They were good friends. This photo taken is 1984 is proof that Elvis is or was still alive at the time.

14870

waltky
06-05-2016, 11:08 PM
He can if he wants to... Ali's funeral to be open to the public...
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Muhammad Ali's funeral 'open to everybody'
Monday 6th June, 2016 | The dazzling fighter - whose words, often delivered in catchy rhymes, were as devastating as his punches - died on Friday aged 74.


LOUISVILLE: The world is invited to the funeral of Muhammad Ali in his hometown on Friday where the boxing legend's life will be celebrated with a public funeral procession and memorial service, a family spokesman said. Ali, a three-time world heavyweight champion and civil rights activist who was an iconic figure of the 20th century, died Friday aged 74 after health problems complicated by a long battle with Parkinson's disease. The official cause of death was septic shock due to unspecified natural causes. The dazzling fighter - whose words, often delivered in catchy rhymes, were as devastating as his punches - had been admitted to an Arizona hospital earlier in the week. Political leaders, sports figures, celebrities and fans around the world paused to remember "The Greatest," whose career spanned three decades.


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Muhammad Ali trains at his Pennsylvanian mountain retreat in Owigsburg, Pennsylvania, on August 27, 1974 for his fight against George Foreman in Zaire.

On Sunday, Ali's relatives will accompany his body from Scottsdale, Arizona to Louisville, his hometown in the southern state of Kentucky. After a private family funeral on Thursday, Ali's coffin will be transported through the streets of Louisville on Friday, before a public memorial service at an arena, with former president Bill Clinton among celebrities expected to offer eulogies. The procession has been organized to "allow anyone that is there from the world to say goodbye," family spokesman Bob Gunnell told reporters. Louisville lowered flags to half-staff in his honor, as fans flocked to the boxer's modest childhood home, now a museum, to pay their respects. "Our hearts are literally hurting. But we are happy daddy is free now," Ali's daughter Hana Ali wrote on Twitter.

'HE DID NOT SUFFER'

President Barack Obama led tributes for Ali, issuing an unusually personal statement in which he said he keeps a pair of Ali's boxing gloves and a photo in his private study. "Muhammad Ali was The Greatest. Period," Obama said. "His fight outside the ring would cost him his title and his public standing. It would earn him enemies on the left and the right, make him reviled and nearly send him to jail. But Ali stood his ground," Obama said. Obama later called Ali's widow Lonnie to offer condolences, the White House said. In a possible preview of Bill Clinton's eulogy, he and his wife Hillary, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, said Ali was "a blend of beauty and grace, speed and strength that may never be matched again." Ali was hospitalized in the Phoenix area early this week, but his condition quickly deteriorated. "His final hours were spent with just immediate family," Gunnell said. "He did not suffer."


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Fans of the late Muhammad Ali come to pay their respects at the Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky

Ali had been living in the Phoenix area with Lonnie, his fourth wife whom he married in 1986. He was survived by nine children - seven daughters and two sons. The fighter himself planned much of the memorial events, Gunnell said. The interfaith service is to be conducted at Louisville's KFC Yum! Center in accordance with "Muslim tradition" and in the presence of an imam. Ali will be buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, where he was born in 1942. Outside the family home in Louisville and the hospital in Scottsdale, fans left flowers, letters and mementos. "He just represents everything that was good about mankind and it's sad to see him go," said James Brice. Fans also gathered in Los Angeles to snap photos and leave flowers at Ali's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ali had been hospitalized multiple times in recent years. His Parkinson's had limited his public speaking, but Ali continued to make appearances and statements via his entourage.

'THE GREATEST OF ALL TIMES' (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/muhammad-ali-s-funeral/2847014.html)

See also:

Muhammad Ali: Hometown mourns the 'Louisville Lip'
Sun, 05 Jun 2016 - Tributes to a local hero who became an international star


As day broke on a hazy Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky, many residents woke up to the news: hometown hero and world famous boxer Muhammad Ali is dead. Although the 74-year-old heavyweight champion had struggled publicly with Parkinson's disease for decades, his death still came to many locals as a shock. "I wouldn't have thought he'd go that quick," said Kevin Ishmael, a saw operator who was one of the first to lay a bouquet at the Muhammad Ali Center, an expansive museum on the waterfront in downtown Louisville.

According to a spokesman for the family, Ali died of septic shock late Friday evening after being admitted to a hospital near his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Although he had lived in Arizona with his wife Lonnie for many years, his funeral will take place in Louisville on Friday. "I cried. I cried like a baby when I found out the news," said 39-year-old Arnold Mathis, who was on his way to lay a wreath and light a candle at the museum. "It's so surreal. I know he's dead, but it hasn't really set in yet." The news of his death was on every local television and radio station, and the front page of the daily newspaper read simply "THE GREATEST", with the iconic 1965 image of Ali standing victorious over Sonny Liston.


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Visitors line up to visit and pay respects the Muhammad Ali Childhood Home Museum on June 4, 2016 in Louisville, KY.

At mid-morning, flags at Louisville's city hall were lowered to half-mast. "Muhammad Ali belongs to the world, but he only has one hometown," Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer told a crowd of mourners. "The Louisville Lip spoke to everyone, but we heard him in a way no one else could - as our brother, our uncle, and our inspiration." Almost everyone in Louisville has a personal story about Ali - whether it's a favourite fight, a glance through a car window, or a trip to his boyhood home at 3302 Grand Avenue, which just opened as a museum last week, the interior recreated as if Ali were still living there as a precocious boy in the 1950s. By early afternoon, the front stoop of the freshly painted pink bungalow was filled with balloons, flowers and notes. A group of Louisville firefighters clambered down from their truck to leave a bouquet.

Violet and Lawrence Montgomery watched from their stoop directly across the street. They first met Ali when he was a five-year-old boy named Cassius Clay. Ali and his brother Rahman babysat the Montgomery's three young children and they paid the boys in bologna sandwiches. Lawrence keeps a faded plaque that Ali made out to "my first boss". "I'm sort of saddened because I lost a very good friend," said Lawrence. "But on the other hand, he's been diagnosed 30 years with that disease and he fought it for years and years." Ali came back to visit them often, as evidenced by Violet's scrapbook of photos of the champ in their living room, doing magic tricks. In a note addressed to Violet, Ali wrote: "Enjoy life, it's later than we think."

Rahman Ali also arrived with his wife to sign autographs and memorialize his beloved older brother. "I gotta hold back tears," he said. "It's one of the saddest days of my life - my brother has passed … I wish I went first." But he also expressed gratitude to the fans gathered on what was once his front lawn, and across the globe. "I feel honoured that my brother got this much respect and love," he said. "There'll never be another Muhammad Ali - he was born for greatness."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36454068

waltky
06-07-2016, 09:03 AM
Ex-champion Lewis to be Ali pallbearer...
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Louisville plans Ali's funeral, his 'last statement' to world
7 Jun 2016 - The family of late boxing legend Muhammad Ali and the city of Louisville on Monday prepared for his public funeral later this week, which organizers said "The Greatest" helped plan himself as a "last statement" to the world.


LOUISVILLE: The family of late boxing legend Muhammad Ali and the city of Louisville on Monday (Jun 6) prepared for his public funeral later this week, which organizers said "The Greatest" helped plan himself as a "last statement" to the world. Former president Bill Clinton, comedian Billy Crystal and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are among those due to speak Friday at the public memorial in a sports arena in the Kentucky hometown of the three-time world heavyweight champion.

The charismatic Ali, a dazzling fighter and outspoken civil rights activist who became one of the 20th century's towering figures, died last Friday at age 74 after health problems complicated by a long battle with Parkinson's disease. The Louisville funeral will be preceded on Thursday by a family funeral and an Islamic prayer service, held in the 18,000-seat Freedom Hall that hosted Ali's last fight in Louisville, against Willi Besmanoff in 1961.


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Profile of Muhammad Ali's boxing career.

The following day, Ali's coffin - which arrived in the city on Sunday aboard a private plane, accompanied by his wife and other relatives - will be paraded through the streets for fans from around the world to say goodbye. "The message that we'll be sending out is not our message, this was really designed and intended by the Champ himself to be his last statement to the people of planet Earth," Islamic studies scholar Timothy Gianotti told reporters in Louisville. "The love and the reverence and inclusivity that we are going to experience over the coming days is really a reflection of his message." "He was the people's champ and so he wanted that memorial service to reflect that," family spokesman Bob Gunnell said.

'HE'S NOT SUFFERING ANYMORE'

The official cause of Ali's death was septic shock due to unspecified natural causes. He had sought medical attention for a cough, but his condition rapidly deteriorated, Gunnell said. He was admitted to a hospital in the Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale, where he had lived for several years with his wife Lonnie. Ali's family removed him from life support on Friday, Gunnell said. "I'm obviously really sad," Ali's daughter Laila, who followed in his footsteps into the boxing ring, told ABC's "Good Morning America" in comments aired on Monday. However, "I have comfort in knowing that he's not suffering anymore." Ali was a "supernatural figure" who "belongs to the world," Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said. "There will be people coming from all over," he told AFP on Sunday, saying the city was prepared to welcome massive crowds.

'QUICK ONE-TWO' (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/louisville-plans-ali-s/2850968.html)

See also:

Muhammad Ali: Lennox Lewis and Will Smith to carry coffin at funeral
Tue, 07 Jun 2016 - Britain's former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and actor Will Smith are to be pallbearers at Muhammad Ali's funeral.


London-born Lewis, 50, became undisputed world champion in 1999, while American Smith, 47, played Ali in the 2001 film of the same name. Three-time heavyweight world champion Ali died last Friday at the age of 74 in hospital in Phoenix, Arizona. His funeral will be held in his home town of Louisville, Kentucky.

Lennox Lewis was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1999 after beating Evander Holyfield to become undisputed heavyweight world champion, the same year Muhammad Ali was honoured as BBC Sports Personality of the Century.

The other pallbearers will be Jerry Ellis, the brother of Jimmy Ellis, Ali's former sparring partner and fellow world heavyweight champion, Ali's cousins John Grady and Jan Wadell, nephew Ibn Ali, former brother-in-law Komawi Ali and family friend John Ramsey.

Friday's service, which will be attended by a number of world leaders, heads of state and celebrities, will be open to the public and streamed live on the internet. It starts at 19:00 BST.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/36466553