ali procession
Gathered in front of his childhood home, Muhammad Ali's fans chanted his name and covered his hearse in flowers as it drove Friday in Louisville, Kentucky. Getty Images

Three-time heavyweight champion and sports icon Muhammad Ali was laid to rest Friday in his hometown of Louisville, and the city gave his supporters and fans every opportunity to say goodbye to boxer and civil rights activist.

Before a private burial service at Cave Hill Cemetery, Ali’s body was taken along a 19-mile funeral procession throughout the streets of Louisville. Those streets were lined with thousands who admired and were thankful both to Ali’s career as a boxer and entertainer and one of the greatest free thinkers and philanthropists of his time.

Here are some clips of the touching and often joyous celebration of Ali’s life and his effect on Louisville and the world over.

This clip shows each of Ali’s pallbearers solemnly approaching his casket and preparing to lift it into the hearse. Along with family members, actor Will Smith and boxing greats like Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, George Foreman, and Larry Holmes were part of the group helping Ali on his final journey.

From there the procession began, highlighted by fans running or biking alongside Ali’s hearse and covering it with flowers and one of his most famous phrases: “The Champ Is Here!”

The procession wound around Louisville and rode past Ali’s childhood home, and even featured a young boy shadow boxing as he ran beside “The Greatest of All-Time's” hearse.