Muhammad Ali
The funeral of Muhammad Ali will take place in Louisville on Friday, 10 June Getty

Muhammad Ali will pass through Louisville in Kentucky for the final time today (10 June) as the Greatest is laid to rest in his home town. The three-times boxing world heavyweight champion of the world died on 3 June at a hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, where he had been admitted a day earlier following respiratory problems.

He spent years planning the funeral and wrote down how he wanted the service to look in a document that later became known as "The Book". Crowds of supporters have lined the streets of Louisville including Muhammad Ali Boulevard as the procession starts at 9am local time, 2pm GMT.

An 18-car procession is scheduled to pass the Ali Center, go by his childhood home, drive by his high school and continue to the Columbia Gym where he first trained. A large memorial service will take place at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville where President Bill Clinton and comedian Billy Crystal will deliver eulogies.

Ali's widow Lonnie and two of his nine children, daughters Rasheda and Maryum, will also address the congregation, closing a 90-minute service that will end at the Cave Hill Cemetery, where he will be buried.

Will Smith, who played the boxer in the 2001 film Ali, and former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis will be among eight pallbearers.