But what Thrilla never seems to get, is the broader context of professional sports, and professional boxing in particular. This isn’t square dancing—this is simulated war, the pursuit of total domination of an opponent. And as in war, that domination begins with the mind. In that endeavor, Frazier may have been Ali’s most spectacular victim, but he wasn’t the only one. Ali once showed up at Floyd Patterson’s camp with a bunch of carrots, after deriding him as “a rabbit.” His description of Frazier as “ugly” mirrored his criticism of Sonny Liston a generation earlier. Moreover, weaker fighters suffered even worse—think Ali beating the hell out of Ernie Terrell while yelling “What’s my name, Uncle Tom?” throughout the fight.
— Ali, Frazier Through The Years - Ta-Nehisi Coates
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