PHILADELPHIA - With his championship belt and a pair of gloves draped over his casket, Joe Frazier was going one more round.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson asked mourners to rise, put their hands together and for one last time "show your love" for the former heavyweight champion. Muhammad Ali obliged.

Wearing a dark suit and sunglasses, a frail and trembling Ali rose from his seat and vigorously clapped for "Smokin' Joe", who handed Ali his first loss.

Ali was among the nearly 4000 people who packed the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia, where Frazier spent much of his life, for a two-hour "joyful celebration" in honour of the boxer. He died last week of liver cancer at the age of 67.

Also attending were former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes, fellow Philadelphia fighter and longtime middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins, and promoter Don King. Jackson delivered a stirring eulogy, describing Frazier as someone who "came from segregation, degradation and disgrace to amazing grace".

"Tell them Rocky was not a champion. Joe Frazier was," he said, referring to the hometown character from the boxing movie, Rocky, whose statue stands at the base of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

"Tell them Rocky is fictitious, Joe was reality. Rocky's fists are frozen in stone. Joe's fists are smokin'. Rocky never faced Ali or Holmes or (George) Foreman. Rocky never tasted his own blood. Champions are made in the ring, not in the movies. There deserves to be a statue of Joe Frazier in downtown Philadelphia."

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, a catch in his voice, sent a videotaped message of condolence, as did real estate magnate Donald Trump and actor Mickey Rourke.

"We made history together," said King, who promoted Ali's Rumble in the Jungle fight against Foreman.

The service ended with a 10-bell salute, boxing's traditional farewell to its own.