When we start talking about great rivalries, we have to first determine the criteria that that we will use to come to our conclusions.  With so many teams and individuals in the professional and collegiate levels that would qualify for this list, we will keep it down to something that is workable.

The definition of the word rivals—two competitors pursuing the same object, but with equal tenacity in their quest to surpass the other.  In sports, the term is normally used when both competitors or teams have a lot of history between them, and the stakes are high.

One criteria has to be fan enthusiasm and participation.  The fans have to be jacked for the contest, and it has to mean something.  If nothing is on the line then it takes away from the rivalry. 

There are times however, when there is nothing on the line, that the respective fans of both teams dislike each other so much, that it doesn’t matter. 

Both teams or participants have to be consistently good.  It won’t generate as much of a buzz if one or both teams are down, or just not that good.  That has to be factored in.

There must be history there between the teams or athletes.  The more history involved, in many cases, means the rivalry is more intense.

Geographical location must be a consideration as well.  Natural rivalries develop over time where teams have a common border, or are intra-state.  This is especially prevalent in college sports.

They will be listed in no particular order, and it will be open for debate which are the best.

Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali

This was a boxing rivalry to end all boxing rivalries.  The first time they fought in 1971, the fight was so hyped that it seemed that it could never live up to its billing. 

It was called at the time—and is still referred to by many—the "fight of the century."  Both men were undefeated and about as different as they come.  Ali was the brash, trash talking anti-war Muslim who took on the establishment, and Frazier was the Bible-reading Christian who liked to sing.

Frazier would win that epic battle, knocking Ali down in the 15th round.  This would be the only fight out of the three that Frazier would win.  The rematch in January of 1974 was called “Superfight,” and Ali would get his revenge.  He dominated the fight with his lightning-quick punches and movement.

In the pre-fight press conference, Frazier got tired of the name-calling and the taunts Ali dished out and attacked him.  Needless to say, there was no love lost between the two.

The third fight, the Thrilla in Manila, in 1975 was a tremendous ending to this rivalry. Both men dished out serious punishment, but Ali tortured Frazier in the later rounds worse than anyone had done before.  Frazier couldn’t answer the bell for the fourteenth .

These men put each other in the hospital, inflicted permanent damage to each other—and when they were through, they ended up respecting each other.  We will never see a heavyweight rivalry like this one again.

Sugar Ray Leonard vs. Thomas Hearns

On September 16, 1981, Caesar's Palace was the place where the two best welterweights met for the first time in the ring. 

There was no love lost between them, particularly in the case of Hearns.  He hated the fact that Sugar Ray got more attention by being the flashier of the two.

The first fight would go down as the fight of the decade.  Leonard was losing the fight and had to stalk Hearns in the late rounds until he caught up to him and knocked him out. 

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