Capricorn v. Capricorn: Ali, Frazier and the GOAT

House of Capricorn: When Capricorn Joe Frazier clashed with fellow goat Muhammad Ali it was always a brutal affair. They both brought the evil out of each other in three epic battles. Both were fierce, willful warriors accustomed to punishing and punishment. Frazier broke Ali’s jaw in the first meeting and Ali pummeled Frazier into submission in their third and final meeting.

With Capricorns, like their axis partners Cancers, the emotions run deep. During the run up to those confrontations, Ali, a virtuoso shit-talker, would call Frazier ugly, a gorilla and an Uncle Tom. In true Capricorn nature, Frazier never got over it. As the Sports Illustrated writer William Nack put it in his classic 1996 piece on the rivalry, “Ali has been living rent free in Frazier’s head for more than 25 years.” Keeping with the Capricorn avatar, Ali would call himself the Greatest Of All Time. Another Capricorn, LL Cool J, would later claim the title by taking the letters and shorten it to GOAT, the avatar of Capricorn. It is now common parlance to the present day.