Bill Clinton has led tributes to Muhammad Ali at a star-studded memorial service in Louisville, Kentucky.
The former US president described the boxing legend as a man who "decided very young to write his own life story".
During his eulogy at a packed sports stadium in the city, Mr Clinton said: "I remember thinking when I was a kid, this guy is so smart. He never got enough credit for being as smart as he was."
Comedian Billy Crystal, renowned for his impersonation of the athlete known to millions as The Greatest, offered moments of levity during the emotive service.
"He was funny, he was beautiful, he was the most funny man you ever saw … and those were his words," he told the audience.
Crystal added: "Only once in a thousand years or so do we get to hear a Mozart, or see a Picasso, read a Shakespeare. Ali was one of them."
In tribute to Ali's once-controversial stance on the Vietnam War, and his impact as a civil rights activist, his long-time friend said: "Muhammad Ali struck us in the middle of America's darkest night."
At times, the interfaith memorial also had political undertones, with Rabbi Michael Lerner receiving a standing ovation for saying: "We will not tolerate politicians or anyone else putting down Muslims for a few people."
Ali, who had died last week at the age of 74 after battling Parkinson's disease for several decades, had converted to Islam in the 1960s - and had criticised Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for his remarks about the religion.
Rabbi Lerner received rapturous applause when he referred to the next president of the United States as a "she", in a nod to Hillary Clinton.
Ali's wife, Lonnie, told the crowds: "If Muhammad didn't like the rules, he rewrote them. His religion, his name, his beliefs were his to fashion, no matter what the cost."
President Barack Obama was unable to attend the memorial because of his daughter's high school graduation, but a letter read out on his behalf said: "Muhammad Ali was America. Brash. Defiant. Pioneering. Never tired. Always game to test the odds. He was our most basic freedoms: religion, speech, spirit."
The service, which saw thousands of ordinary people rub shoulders with the likes of David Beckham and Arnold Schwarzenegger, came after tens of thousands of fans lined the streets of Ali's hometown for a procession which saw his body carried past important landmarks in his life.
After Ali's body was carried to a hearse by pallbearers including boxers Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, as well as actor Will Smith, a motorcade left the athlete's childhood home.
The procession travelled along a 19-mile route to the Cave Hill Cemetery, where the three-time world heavyweight champion was laid to rest in a private burial service.
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