Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier shared sport's greatest ever rivalry which lasted for decades after the

On a spring day in 1970, reigning heavyweight champion of the world Joe Frazier gave former heavyweight champion of the world Muhammad Ali a ride in his car.

The pair were starting to build up a strong relationship, plotting together to facilitate a fight for the ages.

Ali famously shocked the world six years prior by dethroning Sonny Liston to claim the title and then went on to make nine successful defences, remaining undefeated at 29-0.

However, aged just 25, he was stripped of his boxing licence for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War.

In his absence, Frazier ascended to the heavyweight summit.

Ali, of course, disputed that 'Smokin' Joe' was the true champion.

"He'd come to the gym and call me on the telephone," Frazier later explained, "He just wanted to work with me for the publicity so he could get his licence back.

"One time, after the [Jimmy] Ellis fight, I drove him from Philadelphia to New York City in my car. Me and him.

"We talked about how much we were going to make out of our fight. We were laughing and having fun. We were friends, we were great friends.

"I said, 'Why not? Come on, man, let's do it.' He was a brother."

When they arrived in New York, a precursor to future events occurred.

Ali got out of the car and, in front of the people in the street, put on a different face.

Acting as if it was the first time he'd seen him, Ali shouted: "It's Joe Frazier, ladies and gentlemen! 'Smokin' Joe'! There he is! He's got my title! I want my title! He ain't the champ, he's the chump! I'm the people's champ!"

At this point, Frazier was able to laugh off these antics and still helped campaign for Ali to regain his licence by speaking directly to President Richard Nixon.

The pair were successful in their quest and Ali returned to the ring after a three-and-a-half-year absence for two comeback bouts at the end of 1970.

They then completed their master plan by putting together the 'Fight of the Century' which was scheduled for March 8, 1971.

All of a sudden though, just as he had on the spring day when he emerged from Frazier's car a year earlier, Ali turned on his friend.

With the purpose of promoting the fight and destabilising his opponent mentally, the former champion verbally assaulted his successor.

It quickly became about far more than just boxing.

Both men had grown up in a racially divided America and Ali's decision to not fight in Vietnam heightened tensions surrounding him.

He had changed his name from his birth name of Cassius Clay, which he described as a 'slave name', and publicly joined the Nation of Islam.

Frazier, like a couple of Ali's opponents before him, refused to recognise the name change.

This incensed Ali who accused Frazier of betraying his people and selling out his race.

Ali threw fuel onto already raging flames when he branded Frazier with the most heinous of insults for a black man, calling him an 'Uncle Tom' - excessively obedient or servile to white people.

Frazier was subject to intense abuse and death threats as a result of these taunts and his family were victims too, with his children given a torrid time at school by bullies who repeated Ali's words.

Frazier recalled: "This guy was a buddy. I remember looking at him and thinking, 'What's wrong with this guy? Has he gone crazy?'

"He called me an Uncle Tom. For a guy who did as much for him as I did, that was cruel.

"I grew up like the black man, he didn't. I cooked the liquor. I cut the wood. I worked the farm. I lived in the ghetto.

"He betrayed my friendship.

"I sat down and said to myself, I'm gonna kill him. Simple as that. I'm gonna kill him."

Prior to walking out for their first fight, Frazier prayed to God for help.

Not help to win, but help to kill Ali in the ring.

He did get the victory and cemented his status as champion in an historic triumph.

A famous final-round knockdown left a lasting image as Frazier's iconic left hook floored his mouthy opponent, who was ironically sent to hospital with a swollen jaw.

The champion won by unanimous decision after 15 rounds, but there was still unfinished business between the pair.

They would not fight again until three years later, by which point their rivalry appeared to have simmered.

The bitterness between Ali and Frazier peaked and troughed like a continuous sine wave for as long as they knew each other.

One year, they would be friends again. The next, furious enemies.

The heavyweights were very cordial together as they appeared on the Dick Cavett Show in early January 1974, even teaming up at one point to lift up the presenter who they jokingly accused of trying to stir things up between them.

"I don't hate Joe Frazier, Joe Frazier don't hate me," Ali declared succinctly.

However, five days out from the fight, things changed drastically.

They appeared together at ABC Studios to rewatch their first bout and ended up brawling on the studio floor.

When Ali returned to his old insults of mocking Frazier's intellect and branded him 'ignorant' the response was swift.

He stood up, over the seated Ali, and clenched his fist in front of his face.

Ali's brother Rahman rushed to the stage, so Frazier asked him, "You in this too?"

Sensing the threat to his family member, Ali jumped up and grabbed Frazier.

They were eventually separated after several minutes of rolling around on the floor and would meet in the ring later that week.

This fight was the least memorable of their trilogy.

Frazier was no longer champion having been dramatically knocked down six times and stopped by George Foreman inside two rounds.

Ali handed him his second defeat in their rematch, outboxing him over the 12-round non-title distance.

This left the score at one win apiece. A third fight was inescapable.

Many feared the trilogy may not happen though, as Ali first stepped into the ring with Foreman having earned a shot at regaining the title by defeating Frazier.

Few gave him a prayer, but Ali proved himself as 'The Greatest' by implementing a rope-a-dope strategy to absorb punishment from Foreman before turning the tables on the power puncher and knocking him out.

Ali was heavyweight champion of the world again and, in 1975, reignited his rivalry with Frazier for one final fight.

This time they would meet in Manila, Philippines and produce one of boxing's most brutal ever battles.

In the build-up, Ali branded Frazier the 'Gorilla in Manila' and taunted him relentlessly with this low insult used to degrade his proud rival.

He was once again naively unaware of the impact this had on both Frazier and his family.

After 14 gruelling rounds under the tin roof of a sweltering hot stadium, Ali won the fight with Frazier pulled out by his trainer Eddie Futch.

He attempted to stand up and celebrate, but quickly fell back onto his stool, equally exhausted.

Ali later refused to watch the fight back, telling a friend: "I'll show you any other fight, but not that one. I don't want to see hell again."

With the third fight won, Ali's work was done.

In his mind, all the trash talk served a purpose for promotion and mental warfare, but there was no need for it anymore and so he could simply revert back to being friendly with Frazier.

Frazier never saw it as this straightforward.

Ali summoned Frazier's teenage son Marvis to visit him after the third fight and told him: "Tell your dad the things I said I really didn't mean."

Frazier's response was: "He should come to me son. He should say it to my face."

By 1978 though, Frazier's icy hostilities towards Ali had thawed greatly.

'Smokin' Joe' travelled to the UK to take part in a special edition of 'This Is Your Life' for Ali and spoke beautifully about the greatness of his rival.

In the early 1980s, it was hatred once again.

Ali's daughter Hana recalled in the I AM ALI documentary: "I remember being at an autograph signing and Joe Frazier was there. My father and him passed each other in the hallway.

"I remember my father was so excited to see Joe Frazier he started jumping up and down, 'Come on Joe, let's play, show off for the cameras.'

"Joe Frazier just put his hand up and went, 'Pssht,' and kept on walking.

"That's when I learned of the pain, hostility and anger that he still felt. He had not forgave my father for that."

It was at this point that Ali finally discovered the true repercussions of his taunts.

Hana continued: "My father was told actually about Joe Frazier and everything that he went through.

"He heard about how his children would come home from school crying.

"My father just put his head down silently and started to cry himself. It hurt him to know that."

The pair shared a press tour with George Foreman in 1989 and again appeared on UK TV together.

Ali was struggling with Parkinson's disease by this point and back on good terms with Frazier, but again it would not last.

Once more, Frazier let bitterness overwhelm him and, during the 1990s, made some of the most horrific comments of the entire rivalry.

This was also partly because he felt cast aside in history. In any other era 'Smokin' Joe' would have been an iconic champion in his own right.

It seemed from his perspective that he was merely remembered as a part of Ali's story, always overshadowed by his nemesis.

In 1996, Ali was chosen to light the torch at the Atlanta Olympics opening ceremony.

His Parkinson's had worsened his condition further, something Frazier openly celebrated.

'Smokin' Joe' said he saw "the hand of the Lord" in Ali's debilitating illness and boasted that their fights were the cause: "He's got Joe Frazier-itis, he's got left-hook-itis."

Frazier claimed Ali's condition was proof that it was him who truly won their three bouts.

He even held a press conference and disputed the choice of Ali being the torch bearer, suggesting it should have been him instead.

When the event happened, most of the world looked on in awe, but Frazier said: "It would have been a good thing if he would have lit the torch and fallen in. If I had the chance, I would have pushed him in."

In Frazier's late 1990s autobiography, he wrote: "People ask me if I feel bad for him, now that things aren't going so well for him.

"Nope. I don't. Fact is, I don't give a damn.

"They want me to love him, but I'll open up the graveyard and bury his ass when the Lord chooses to take him."

In the end though, remarkably, Ali and Frazier settled on better terms.

Over the years, Ali attempted numerous apologies and it appears they eventually got through to Frazier in his old age.

Marvis Frazier explained: "In the end, before my father passed away, he and Ali came together in love and unity.

"I was so happy to see that. They hugged and embraced. That was fantastic."

In his last recorded comments about Ali before his passing in 2011, Frazier got teary eyed when thinking about Ali's suffering with Parkinson's.

He said on the Facing Ali documentary: "It's just sad because he's a great guy and I'm hoping that maybe he could live the kind of live that we live. I'd love to see him do that. Because he earned that."

Sadly, it was not to be and Ali passed away in 2016.

50 years on from the 'Fight of the Century', Ali vs Frazier is still remembered as the greatest rivalry the sporting world has ever seen.

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