Muhammad Ali memorial starts with Muslim prayer service

He was loved by the world, but Muhammad Ali's body was yesterday brought to his home town Louisville, Kentucky, for last adieu from thousands of worshippers and fanswho gathered at a huge convention centre.

The two-day funeral started with a Muslim prayer service, known as a 'Jenazah,' reports the BBC.

According to Imam Zaid Shakir, who led the service, 'The Greatest' wanted 'Jenazah' to be "a teaching moment."

More than 14,000 people have tickets to the event at the site of Ali's last fight in Louisville in 1961.

In 1964, Ali famously converted to Islam, changing his name from Cassius Clay, which he called his "slave name."

The legendary boxer first joined the Nation of Islam, a controversial black separatist movement, before later converting to mainstream Islam.

On Friday, Bill Clinton, Billy Crystal and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay their respects, beside Will Smith - who played the boxer in his 2001 film 'Ali.