Muhammad Ali's brother Rahman has paid tribute to the boxer following his death on Friday. Speaking to Good Morning Britain's Ross King, Rahman described his brother as "just perfect" and said he had never changed despite his incredible success.
"[Muhammad was] Just perfect, nice, kind, sweet, loving, jolly," Rahman said of his brother. "He liked to laugh and play and kid people and tell jokes."
Muhammad Ali's brother Rahman described the boxer as "kind, sweet, loving"
Asked whether Muhammad had changed over the years, his brother said: "He never changed. The love he had as a child he carried to adulthood, he remained the same, it got stronger the older he got."
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Rahman got emotional as he said he would miss Muhammad, who passed away on Friday at the age of 74. He said he would remember the boxing legend as a "loving, kind person", explaining: "White, black, whatever you were, he would love you, he loved people. He was a boxer, that was his trade, but his heart was loving and kind.
"He would take the shirt off his back to give to you if you needed it, that's how kind he was. I will miss him. I'm a very, very emotional person, I'm about to cry."
© Photo: Getty ImagesMuhammad Ali's life will be celebrated in a public memorial service on Friday
Rahman's touching tribute to Muhammad follows the announcement of plans for a public memorial service in honour of the former heavyweight world champion. A family spokesman has said that Muhammad's life will be celebrated with ceremonies on Thursday and Friday in his Kentucky hometown, to "allow anyone that is there from the world to say goodbye".
Muhammad's immediate family will hold a private service on Thursday, then the following day another private family prayer service will be hosted at a Louisville funeral home. On Friday, the boxer's coffin will be taken on a procession through the main streets of Louisville before a public memorial service at the Yum Center, a basketball arena in the city where Muhammad grew up that seats more than 20,000 people.
Muhammad's close friend Billy Crystal, former US President Bill Clinton and sports reporter Bryant Gumbel will all deliver eulogies at the service, which will also be live streamed on the website for the Muhammad Ali Center.
The service will be interfaith but in the Muslim tradition, led by an imam, in keeping with Muhammad's beliefs. He will be buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.
