Muhammad Ali Funeral Procession & Memorial Service

wwetvsports21
Jun 10, 2016
2 min read

One of the most popular men in the history of the world got another funeral today in Louisville, Kentucky. Muhammad Ali received a King's funeral and rightfully so. Many dignitaries appeared today to speak at this event such as the daughter of Malcolm X who proclaimed how much her father loved Ali. He has indeed entered into annals of time with such revered personalities in the history of America.

Will Smith who played Muhammad Ali in his biopic attended the event and had some very kind words to say about the man he called his friend and mentor.

“It’s absolutely beautiful. We did a two-hour procession through the state… the outpouring of love,” the star told Entertainment Tonight of the funeral parade. “I learned a really valuable lesson about how the moment of the end of a life illuminates how it was lived. And every day you have to focus and concentrate on making sure you’re living your life in a way that it illuminates the things you want illuminated, and the things that were illuminated today were his love, and his heart, and his unconditional appreciation for all people of every race and color.”

The 47-year-old went on to explain it was the icon’s close bond with his fans which he really admired about Ali, who he spent a lot of time with before, during and after the filming of his biopic.

“As an actor, whenever you play a role, you always take away something that lasts with you for the rest of your life, and I remember (Ali) would just walk away, and you’d look, and he would just be in the middle of a crowd of people,” Will remembered. “No security. He just got on a bus.

“I said, ‘Champ, you just walked into a crowd of people. You got on a bus and just rode away and you weren’t going anywhere. What is that?’ And he said, ‘Aww man. They ain’t ever seen nothing like you before. You got to let them touch you and know you real (sic). You know?’ And I just thought that was such a beautiful idea – that we have to let people actually physically touch you for the aspirational qualities.”

Smith’s comments emerged hours after Ali’s daughter Laila heaped praise on the actor for doing her father justice onscreen.

“He appreciated the great job that Will Smith did playing him,” she told the news show as she explained why she was grateful to have the star as a pallbearer.

“My father had a big impact on his life,” Laila Ali continued. “He did a tremendous job playing that role, and he will forever be associated with my father, because as an actor, that’s kind of a spiritual thing, playing Muhammad Ali – and being able to do it so well. Channel that energy that he needed to bring to that role.”