It was political. It was poignant. It was funny, flamboyant, and -- fittingly -- unforgettable

LOUISVILLE on Friday bid a final farewell to its favourite son, sending off in style a man who was born 74 years ago in the segregated suburbs and was buried in a ceremony befitting the giant he became.

Muhammad Ali had planned his funeral in detail, requesting the presence of Bill Clinton, Billy Crystal, Will Smith and boxing’s greatest — alongside his family and 18 000 fans.

He also wanted guarantees that all faiths would be represented, hence a series of powerful speeches and performances from rabbis, a Catholic priest, Buddhist monks and a Native American chief.

“Muhammad indicated that when his time came, he wanted to use his death as a teaching method for the world,” said his widow, Lonnie, speaking with assurance and poise that defied her enormous loss.

“He had grown up in segregation. He never became embittered enough to quit or engage in violence. So even in death, Muhammad has something to say.”

And his presence in the Kentucky city was overwhelming.

Kevin Cosby, a preacher in Louisville, paid tribute to a civil rights champion who fought to overcome the racism and division of his time.

He was a pioneer — “the people’s champ” — said Cosby, to whoops and cheers from the fired-up auditorium.

“Before James Brown said I’m down and I’m brown, Muhammad Ali said I’m black and I’m pretty,” he said in a barnstorming address.

Orrin Hatch, a Mormon Republican senator for Utah, joked: “It’s hard for this old senator to follow that.”

But, in his own way, he did: telling an anecdote about how he invited Ali to a Mormon service in Salt Lake City, only for Ali to charm everyone by handing out signed copies of a Muslim text.

Rabbi Michael Lerner turned the political heat up several degrees, launching a series of blistering political attacks.

“We will not tolerate politicians or anyone else putting down Muslims or blaming Muslims for the sins of a few,” he yelled. “We know what it is like to be demeaned.”

He was scathing about Israel, Turkish attacks on Kurdish militants, and Wall Street, telling the stunned and shouting audience: “Tell your next president, tell her!”

The TV cameras cut to Bill Clinton, laughing.

Chief Sidney Hill took to the stage next, providing a welcome change of pace with his mesmerising refrain, followed by Buddhist monks, drumming and chanting.

Attallah Shabazz, Malcolm X’s daughter and ambassador-at-large for Belize, gave a powerful, tearful speech, saying: “Muhammad Ali was part of a treasured fraternity, bequeathed to me by my dad.”

She told of “his grief, for not having spoken to my dad before he left. His stories — some of which can’t be repeated. He was so funny”.

Shabazz continued: “A unifying topic was faith; an ecumenical faith, respect for all faiths, even if belonging to one religion or none, the gift of all faiths.

“He said: We all have the one God. We just serve him differently. Rivers, lakes, plains, they all have different names — but they mean the same thing. Doesn’t matter if you are a Muslim or Christian or Jew, when you believe in God, you should believe all people are part of one family. Because if you love God, you can’t love only some of his children.

“Having Muhammad Ali in my life somehow sustained my dad’s breath in me — 51 years longer. Until now.”

Then it was the turn of the family. Lonnie Ali told of how her husband had taken up boxing when Joe Martin, a local police officer, told the then 12-year-old boy whose bicycle had been stolen that he could teach him to fight.

“America must never forget that when a cop and an inner-city kid talk to each other, miracles can happen,” she said, to a standing ovation.

Billy Crystal had the audience in hysterics, telling of the 42-year friendship with a man who called him “Little Brother”.

John Ramsey, a family friend and former radio host, described Ali as “the coolest cat in the room”.

He said: “He was good-looking. He had charm. He had charisma. He had swagger, before we knew what swagger was.

“Muhammad said service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth. And I just want to say: ‘Champ, the rent is paid in full.’ ”

As the day came to a close, following a remarkable 30km funeral procession through the streets, Ali’s daughter Rasheda summed up the man Louisville so loved. “Daddy’s looking at us now,” she said. “And he’s saying: ‘I told you I’m the greatest.’ ”

Clinton, the former US president, delivered an emotional speech to a “smart”, “wise” and “tremendously fun” man to be around.

He began his speech by praising a man who was determined. “He decided very young to write his own life story. He decided he would not ever be disempowered. He never got credit for being as smart as he was, then he never got credit for being as wise as he was.”

Clinton described Ali as a universal soldier for people’s common humanity.

“In the end, besides being a tremendously fun man to be around, I will always think of him as a truly free man of faith . . . Being a man of faith, he realised he was never in full control of his life. Being free, he still knew he was open to choices. It is the choices that have brought us all here today.

“As the first part of his life was dominated by the triumph of fights, the second part was more important because he refused to be imprisoned by disease.

“In the second half of his life, he perfected gifts we all have: we all have gifts of mind and heart. It’s just that he found a way to release them; large and small.

“Ali never wasted a day feeling sorry for himself just because he had Parkinson’s,” he said.

As he concluded his speech, Clinton was given a standing ovation. — © The Daily Telegraph, London