Muhammad Ali funeral live: Stars and fans line streets of Louisville to pay respects to ‘The Greatest'

The sports legend wanted his funeral to be a celebration of his life.

A fan holds a drawing of Muhammad Ali in Kentucky. (John Minchillo/Associated Press)

Hundreds of fans and celebrities are in Louisville, Kentucky, to mourn the passing of Mohammad Ali, the famous boxer and one of the most-loved sportsmen in the country.

He died at the age of 74, after battling Parkinson's disease for more than 30 years.

His funeral is taking place in his hometown. Will Smith is a pallbearer, and Bill Clinton and Billy Crystal are to deliver eulogies.

The three-time heavy weight champion of the world was also an established figure in the civil rights movement, and he famously objected to serving in the Vietnam War.

[10 June 2016 19:31 · Rachael Revesz]

[10 June 2016 20:23 · Rachael Revesz]

Louisville Reverend Kevin W Cosby takes to the stage.

[10 June 2016 20:29 · Rachael Revesz]

“The greatest and most profound effect that the civil rights movement had is that it infused something in the negro that the negro needed all along, and that was a sense of ‘somebodyness’," said the Reverend.

“That was after 350 years of ‘nobodyness' that was infused into every person of colour.”

He said sports played a great role after World War II, including Jesse Owens, in giving African Americans a sense of “somebodyness”. 

“And then from Louisville….” he said, and was broken off by a great applause from the crowd.

“...emerged the silver-tongued poet who took the ethos of somebodyness to unheard of heights. Before James Brown said 'I’m black and I’m proud', Muhammad Ali said ‘I’m black and I’m pretty’."

[10 June 2016 20:31 · Rachael Revesz]

"He dared to affirm the beauty of blackness, the power and the capacity of African Americans. He dared to love America’s most unloved race. And he loved us all. And we loved him because we knew that he loved us all,” said Reverend Cosby.