5 of the best boxing rivalries of all time
5. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier
Arguably, the most well-known rivalry in all of sports was between heavyweights Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Set during the 1960s and 70s political climate, there will never be another rivalry with a similar background. Their rivalry's racial and societal undertones aided in its remembrance and took both outside the confines of the sweet science.
The animus and vitriol would become extremely personal between the two fighters due to the level of belittling they each levied at each other. The disparaging remarks would leave a significant amount of resentment even as the years went by. However, the foundation of the Ali-Frazier rivalry was rooted in competition.
Ali was stripped of his heavyweight title in 1967 after being convicted of draft evasion during the Vietnam War. He would file multiple appeals as a conscientious objector for religious beliefs. After several appeals, it wasn't until 1971 that his conviction was overturned. The year before, he got a license in Georgia, where he made his in-ring return against Jerry Quarry.
During Ali's absence, Frazier emerged holding the heavyweight crown in 1968. He then won the Ring Magazine heavyweight title in 1970 when he stopped Jimmy Ellis. A title that was vacated by Ali when he announced a retirement before making his return.
The first of what would be three fights was set to take place in March 1971. It was a bout between two undefeated Olympic gold medalists who each had a legitimate claim to the heavyweight championship. Frazier would emerge victorious in the first match with his steady pressure and a left hook that sent Ali down in the fifteenth round, leading to a unanimous decision.
A rematch would take place three years later, in January 1974. After the loss to Frazier, Ali stayed active, fighting 13 times, including twice to Ken Norton. Ali famously suffered a broken jaw in his first fight with Norton as he succumbed to the second loss of his career. Frazier would only fight four times before the rematch with Ali. He lost his heavyweight title to George Foreman in Jamaica in 1973, where he was stopped in two rounds. Both men entered the rematch with blemishes on their record.
An infamous brawl before the match took place at ABC studios during an interview with Howard Cosell. The trash-talking between the two had hit its boiling point. The sequel failed to live up to the expectations of their first fight. The match was filled with an unrestrained amount of holding by Ali, and Frazier, unable to adjust, lost a decision.
The third match between Ali and Frazier would prove to be just as epic as their first. It cemented their rivalry in boxing history as one of the greatest trilogies in this sport's history.
After defeating Frazier in the rematch, Ali regained the heavyweight title by knocking out Foreman in the famous "Rumble in the Jungle." Once again, for the heavyweight championship, Ali and Frazier fought in the "Thrilla in Manila in the Philippines in October 1975.
Perhaps, surpassing the brutality of their first fight, it was a war of attrition, with one man surviving the match more than actually winning it. After 14 rounds of both men going back and forth, Frazier's eye would be his undoing. Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, would stop the match, fearing sending his blind fighter out for more punishment.
"Joe Frazier, I'll tell the world right now, brings out the best in me," Ali would say after the Thrilla in Manila.
Ali-Frazier is synonymous with boxing. They fought in what is considered the greatest era of heavyweight boxing. Inside and outside of the ring, Ali-Frazier is still the rivalry all others are measured by.