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The other day I read this strangely affecting column about Joe Frazier, the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and probably one of the 5-10 greatest boxers of all time. But to most casual sports fans of our generation, he is best known as the afterthought of the phrase ‘Ali vs. Frazier’. It’s an incredibly interesting and saddening look into the psyche of a man who, more than 30 years after fighting Muhammad Ali for the third and last time, still fumes with deep hatred towards his storied rival:

“Frazier was signing autographs along with a group of other top American Olympians selected by the United States Olympic Committee as among the best the country had ever produced. A woman and her young son approached and asked Frazier what medal he’d won. When he told her “boxing,” she asked if he’d ever fought Ali. That’s when the dark clouds began to brew.

“He said he had and she asked if he’d beaten him. He said he did but such is the depth of his feelings on the subject of Ali that he could not stop there. He suggested she look at the physically broken man Ali is today and understand who made him that way.”

History has seemed to forget, but Ali used to torment Frazier relentlessly… in the media. While their three fights were violent epics that are considered among the greatest in boxing history (Ali won two, Frazier won one), the promotion of each one consisted of Ali embarrassing Frazier with words so mean-spirited that we would cringe today.

Could you imagine any sports star of today constantly calling any opponent (much less a strong, proud black man such as Frazier) an ‘Uncle Tom’ or ‘The White Man’s Champion’? Or painting him as an ignorant animal? Or constantly calling him a gorilla? And sure, part of you wants to say, “Sticks and stones may break my bones…”, but what if Kobe Bryant said that about another player today? Or Alex Rodriguez? Or Terrell Owens? It’s shocking that there was so little backlash towards Ali for his words at that time (a product of the era?) and it’s just as shocking that history has almost forgotten the insults when we see a frail, broken Ali on television.

Why does sports history always forget the character flaws of its heroes? Why does no one seem to remember Ted Williams was a sour, angry man? Or that Michael Jordan was a gambling addict? Or that Magic and Wilt slept with hundreds (thousands?) of random women? But all of those flaws were private and we could always explain those away as ‘none of our business’. With Ali, his comments were all out in the open. It’s almost like we’ve all chosen to forget – all except for Joe.

When you think about Frazier and Ali in that light, you begin to understand Frazier’s hatred for a man who ridiculed him publicly, battled him toe-to-toe in three epic fights, and now is revered as one of the great sports icons. All of that while Frazier’s name has faded to recognition only be sports fans and older generations. When you think about all of that, you can almost see why Frazier still lashes out at Ali:

“I hated Ali,” Frazier told writer Thomas Hauser for his seminal biography, “Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times.” “God might not like me talking that way, but it’s in my heart. I hated that man … 20 years I been fighting Ali, and I still want to take him apart piece by piece and send him back to Jesus.”

Or after Ali lit the Olympic flame in 1996:

“I should have been picked. I wish Ali had fallen into [the flame]. If I had the chance, I’d have pushed him in.”

Or…:

“I don’t like him but I got to say, in the ring he was a man … He shook me in Manila; he won. But I sent him home worse than he came. Look at him now. He’s damaged goods. I know it; you know it. Everyone knows it … He was always making fun of me. I’m the dummy; I’m the one getting hit in the head. Tell me now; him or me; which one talks worse now?”

It’s incredibly sad and when you think about it all, you can almost understand it. Almost.