A new musical about the life of Muhammad Ali is being planned

He told The Sun: "We can't wait to be doing it. We have no clue who will play Muhammad but it's going to be great."

David plans to base the musical on the Oscar-winning documentary 'When We Were Kings', which tells the story of his 1974 clash with George Foreman.

A source said: “The popularity of the film will no doubt get audiences down to the show."

Last year Ali's son, Muhammad Ali Jr., praised Will Smith, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis for helping his family to get through the late sporting icon's funeral.

He said: "Oh my God, without those three I can't imagine how bad I would have been.

"Will Smith doing the Michael Jackson moonwalk, Mike Tyson cracking jokes and Lennox Lewis doing imitations of my father - he sounded just like him.

"They made me laugh, they helped us all. It broke the ice. It meant so much. Everyone showed such love."

Pallbearer Will previously admitted being a part of the funeral service for Ali was "humbling" but he had enjoyed swapping stories about the sporting legend with Mike and Lennox.

He said: "We all sat around, you know - Tyson, Lewis, and a lot of Ali's family and me - for about an hour.

"We all just told the stories and our memories. You know, for me, it's just humbling to be able to be here with the family in this time of need. He lived the perfect example of how a human being is supposed to live their life. It was beautiful."