Scatter Brained

ALI VERSUS FRAZIER
In the Red Corner:
 Muhammad Ali, the fast-talking, self-
declared pretty, fl oating heavyweight
In the Blue Corner:
 Joe Frazier, the fi erce, hard-punching 
heavyweight
The Feud:
  Th
 eir three fi ghts (Ali won the last two) were 
C H A P T E R   9

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S C A T T E R B R A I N E D
 brilliant, epic duels. Th
  e feud, though, continues to this day. 
Frazier will not talk to Ali because he was so deeply hurt by 
Ali calling him a “gorilla.”
The Fallout:
 Both men ended up with brain injuries as a re-
sult of their careers, but Ali is now considered the greater 
fi ghter (and person). Ali’s prominence, in fact, eclipses more 
than just Frazier’s. . . .
07 
Lesser-Known Civil Rights Figures