Civil rights leader the Reverend Jesse Jackson, a long-time friend of Muhammad Ali, said the late boxer's impact extended far beyond the ring.

SOUNDBITE (English) Reverend Jesse Jackson, long-time friend of Muhammad Ali:

"This work beyond the boxing ring as a social transformer, ending legal segregation, challenging a war in which we lost lives and money and honour, those acts of bravery gave him a stature that made him even more global in his fight as a social transformer. We're grateful for the role that he played and the service that he rendered when he was a freedom fighter in the height of his career. He was reviled and, more than that, he was rejected as a marcher, but now we love him as a martyr. We tend to embrace martyrs when they can fight no longer, but reject marchers when their fighting has transformative value. He is a legend whose legacy will live far beyond the grave."

SOUNDBITE (English) Reverend Jesse Jackson, long-time friend of Muhammad Ali:

"Not just a champion in the ring, but a hero beyond the ring - a social transformer."