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Heartfelt tributes paid to boxer Muhammad Ali at emotional memorial service

Thousands of people have said a final farewell to Muhammad Ali at a emotional memorial service in his home town of Louisville.

The 74-year-old heavy weight champion was hailed as "the living, breathing embodiment of the greatest we can be" and remembered for being "bigger, brighter and more original and influential than just about anyone of his era" as a packed audience gathered to pay their respects to the sporting legend.

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Protestant minister: Ali 'dared to love black people'

Muhammad Ali "dared to love black people at a time when black people had a problem loving themselves", a Protestant minister has said at a memorial service in Louisville.

Kevin Cosby told mourners: "Muhammad Ali said 'I'm proud, I'm pretty, I'm glad of who I am'. And when he said that, that infused in Africans a sense of somebodiness.

"Our brother, Muhammad Ali, was a product of a difficult time, and he dared to love black people, at a time when black people had a problem loving themselves", he added.

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