/ AP file

Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier battle during their Jan. 28, 1974, bout at Madison Square Garden.

No. 4: Richard Petty v. David Pearson
Petty and Pearson are the two winningest drivers in NASCAR history. From 1963 to 1977, they finished 1-2 in 63 races (Pearson won 33, and Petty, 30). While "the King" Petty won four more overall titles than "the Silver Fox," their rivalry ran deep. As Humpy Wheeler, president of Lowe's Motor Speedway, said, "if you dared to ask the crowd which driver was better, you had better have your shoulder pads on because someone was going to start fighting."

No. 3: Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain
Before Wilt Chamberlain entered the NBA in 1959, it seemed that Bill Russell had no one to play against. The defensive-minded Russell dominated the paint, powering his Celtics to two championships in his first three seasons. Then came the NBA's first seven-footer to have power, grace, and magical offensive skills. When Chamberlain's Warriors first met the Celtics, the game was dubbed the "Big Collision." The brash young dynamo and the calm, cool defender turned the match into a one-on-one battle.

No. 2: Björn Borg vs. John McEnroe
Simply watching the fourth set tiebreak of the 1980 Wimbledon final was exhausting, and exhilarating. The fiery 21-year-old American saved five championship points (after saving two in the previous game) and survived, 18-16. But the cool Swede held on 8-6 in the final set to take his fifth Wimbledon crown. The two longhaired, long-limbed champs with contrasting styles and temperaments met in three more classic major finals over the next two seasons.

No. 1: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier
They fought three times, and each fight seemed bigger than a boxing match, combining political and cultural differences (the flamboyant, anti-war Muslim against the conservative blue-collar Joe) with showmanship and old-fashioned venom. The fast-talking Ali called Frazier a "gorilla" and an "Uncle Tom." Frazier never forgave him and didn't understand, as author David Halberstam put it, "that the only way we know of Ali's greatness is because of Frazier's equivalent greatness, that in the end there was no real difference between the two of them as fighters."

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