hollywood star billy crystal was one of the many famous faces who took the podium to deliver his heartfelt eulogy at the funeral for late boxing legend muhammad ali following the islamic prayer service for alis family friends and fans headed to the kfc yum center in louisville kentucky on friday to pay tribute to ali crystal 68 recounted funny moments he had with the boxer and explained how much his friend of 42 years really meant to him at the tribute ceremony reported ace showbizread also boxing legend muhammad ali to be laid to rest today this outpouring of love and respect proves that 35 years after he stopped fighting he is still the champion of the world last week when we heard the news time stopped there was no war there was no terrorismthe world stopped took a breath and sighed crystal said since then my mind has been racing through my relationship with this amazing man which is now 42 years that i know him while others can tell you of his accomplishments he wanted me to speak and tell you of some personal moments we had together he continued crystal then talked about his friendship with ali recalling moments when he first knew him crystal was hired to perform at an event honoring ali in 1974 in which he debuted his ali skit here i was a white kid from long island imitating the greatest of all time and he was loving it he said adding that ali gave him a hug after his performance and whispered in his ear youre my little brother thats when i saw him for the first time in person its very hard to describe how much he meant to me you had to live in his time crystal said to live in his time watching his fights experiencing the genius of his talent was absolutely extraordinary he was funny he was beautiful he was the most perfect athlete you ever saw and those were his own words but he was so much more than a fighter crystal concluded his touching eulogy by saying but didnt he make all of our lives a little bit better than they were he was a tremendous bolt of lightning created by mother nature out of thin air a fantastic combination of power and beauty also delivering eulogies at the event were bryant gumbel and bill clintonwatch defeat to muhammad ali best sporting moment of my life richard dunn