Muhammad Ali 80th birthday to be marked with virtual event

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Boxing great Muhammad Ali would be 80 this month, and the center in Kentucky that bears his name said a virtual celebration is planned next week.

The one-hour program on Wednesday will include an introduction by his widow, Lonnie Ali. Guest speakers will include PBS filmmaker Ken Burns, Muhammad Ali’s daughter Hana Ali and others, the Ali Center said. Burns will share some comments and a segment from his PBS documentary, “Muhammad Ali.”

The program is presented by the Ali Center in Louisville, PBS Books, USA Today, the Courier Journal, Metro Louisville United Way, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and Kentucky Educational Television.

The event will be at 8 p.m. EST on the PBS Books Facebook page.

The center said the program will encourage people to participate in The Greatest Giveback through service projects across the country. The projects are organized each year on Ali’s birthday, Jan. 17, but the on-site event at the Ali Center was postponed until June because of recent COVID-19 spikes.