Ali's funeral open to all

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.

Ali 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.

On Sunday, Ali's relatives will accompany his body from Scottsdale, Arizona to Louisville, his hometown.

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.

The procession will "allow anyone that is there from the world to say goodbye," family spokesman Bob Gunnell said.

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.

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.