This Muhammad Ali's Ten Pallbearers
This Muhammad Ali's Ten Pallbearers
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LOUISVILLE - Ten men including a few famous people were chosen to carry boxing great Muhammad Ali's casket during his funeral on Friday. Who are they?
While the official list of pallbearers includes just 10 men, 12 were seen loading Ali's casket into a hearse Friday morning ahead of the funeral.
The 17 car motorcade set out for a Louisville cemetery on a 19-mile route that was expected to take Ali's body past his boyhood home, the gym where he first learned to box and the museum that bears his name, via Muhammad Ali Boulevard.
Fans chanted like spectators at one of his fights, stood on cars, held up cellphones, signs and T-shirts, tossed flowers and scattered rose petals along the path of the hearse. Truckers honked their horns in salute. Others fell silent and looked on reverently as the champ went by.
The motorcade arrived at Cave Hill cemetery just before 1pm on Friday. Only Ali's family and friends were invited to the private burial, but an open memorial is slated to start right after the service at the KFC Yum! Center. More than 15,000 people are expected to attend the public funeral, where former President Bill Clinton, Billy Crystal and Will Smith are slated to speak.
So..this Muhammad Ali's ten pallbearers
Gene Dibble IV: Gene Dibble IV is the son of the late Gene Dibble III, who was Muhammad Ali's business agent. When he became a stockbroker in 1956, Dibble Sr was one of just three African American brokers working for Chicago investment firms. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 84.
John Ramsey: Radio personality and one of Ali's best friends. The two met in the late 1980s.
Jerry Ellis: Jerry Ellis is the brother of Ali's former sparring partner Jimmy Ellis. Ali and Jimmy were foes in the boxing ring, but they grew up close friends in Louisville. Jimmy died in 2014.
Komawi Ali: Ali's former brother in law.
Jan Waddell: Ali's younger cousin who he used to babysit before becoming a household name. Ali also helped pay for him to go to law school and become an attorney.
Ibn Ali: Ali's nephew. In a 2009 interview, Ibn said it was a 'blessing and a curse' to be one of Ali's relatives 'because a lot of people want to hold you up to his standards'.
Lennox Lewis: The former heavyweight champion of the world, who was Ali's 'favorite' boxer.
Will Smith: Hollywood actor who played the boxing legend in the 2001 critically-acclaimed film Ali.
John Grady: Ali's cousin on his mother's side of the family. Ali's grandfather Abe Grady was born in Ennis, Ireland, and moved to America in the 1860s where he married a free African American woman in Kentucky. The couple started a family and had children including daughter Odessa Lee Grady, who married Ali's father Cassius Clay, Sr.
Mike Tyson: Also a former heavyweight champion and world-famous boxer. Tyson was added to the list of pallbearers at the last minute, and took an overnight flight to make it to the funeral services.
While the official list of pallbearers includes just 10 men, 12 were seen loading Ali's casket into a hearse Friday morning ahead of the funeral.
The 17 car motorcade set out for a Louisville cemetery on a 19-mile route that was expected to take Ali's body past his boyhood home, the gym where he first learned to box and the museum that bears his name, via Muhammad Ali Boulevard.
Fans chanted like spectators at one of his fights, stood on cars, held up cellphones, signs and T-shirts, tossed flowers and scattered rose petals along the path of the hearse. Truckers honked their horns in salute. Others fell silent and looked on reverently as the champ went by.
The motorcade arrived at Cave Hill cemetery just before 1pm on Friday. Only Ali's family and friends were invited to the private burial, but an open memorial is slated to start right after the service at the KFC Yum! Center. More than 15,000 people are expected to attend the public funeral, where former President Bill Clinton, Billy Crystal and Will Smith are slated to speak.
So..this Muhammad Ali's ten pallbearers
Gene Dibble IV: Gene Dibble IV is the son of the late Gene Dibble III, who was Muhammad Ali's business agent. When he became a stockbroker in 1956, Dibble Sr was one of just three African American brokers working for Chicago investment firms. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 84.
John Ramsey: Radio personality and one of Ali's best friends. The two met in the late 1980s.
Jerry Ellis: Jerry Ellis is the brother of Ali's former sparring partner Jimmy Ellis. Ali and Jimmy were foes in the boxing ring, but they grew up close friends in Louisville. Jimmy died in 2014.
Komawi Ali: Ali's former brother in law.
Jan Waddell: Ali's younger cousin who he used to babysit before becoming a household name. Ali also helped pay for him to go to law school and become an attorney.
Ibn Ali: Ali's nephew. In a 2009 interview, Ibn said it was a 'blessing and a curse' to be one of Ali's relatives 'because a lot of people want to hold you up to his standards'.
Lennox Lewis: The former heavyweight champion of the world, who was Ali's 'favorite' boxer.
Will Smith: Hollywood actor who played the boxing legend in the 2001 critically-acclaimed film Ali.
John Grady: Ali's cousin on his mother's side of the family. Ali's grandfather Abe Grady was born in Ennis, Ireland, and moved to America in the 1860s where he married a free African American woman in Kentucky. The couple started a family and had children including daughter Odessa Lee Grady, who married Ali's father Cassius Clay, Sr.
Mike Tyson: Also a former heavyweight champion and world-famous boxer. Tyson was added to the list of pallbearers at the last minute, and took an overnight flight to make it to the funeral services.
(rnz)
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