This is one of the hardest lists to ever make because in this article the Top 5 Greatest sports Rivalries of all time will be selected and not of just one sport but from all sports. This list can be vastly different between everyone because there have been some incredible sports Rivalries of all time and to choose the Top 5 is incredibly difficult.
Still , let’s look at the Top 5 Greatest Sports Rivalries of all time and let’s celebrate all these great rivalries and in this list there will be Rivalries between individual sports persons as well as between teams
1) India vs Pakistan – Cricket (1952- Current)
This is the greatest sporting Rivalry according to all Indians and it is one of the all time greatest sporting Rivalries of all time. The amount of competition and the level of passion between the fans is immense. The biggest stadiums in the world feel small when this match is announced and players from both nations feel the pressure when they play against each other. The first meeting between these teams was between 16th -19th October 1952 in a test match. They have played a total of 52 Tests against each other as well as 132 ODIs and 12 T20IS. In ODIs the Head to Head is Pakistan have 73 wins and India have 55 wins. This rivalry will continue and it will only get better. The viewership for each of these matches is way more than many great sporting Rivalries.
2) Real Madrid vs Barcelona- Football (1902- Current)
There are a lot of great Rivalries in football but nothing comes close to the El Classico which happens between Real Madrid vs Barcelona. This is one of the biggest football matches of the year and it has been going on for more than 120 years and both these teams want to win against each other and a loss for either of these teams does not go well with the fans or the management. Their first match was played in 1902 and since then they have played 254 official matches between each other which is staggering and in those Matches FC Barcelona has 100 wins and Real Madrid has 102 wins. It is so close and until Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo played for opposite teams this Rivalry became the biggest in sport.
3) Chris Evert vs Martina Navratilova – Tennis (1973-1988)
There have been a lot of great tennis Rivalries but nothing has come close to matching this one between Chris Evert vs Martina Navratilova because these two are two of the greatest and they always brought out the best in each other. They played each other 80 times in those 15 years and they played 60 times in finals of tournaments which is quite staggering. The Head to Head record is Martina Navratilova has won 43 Matches and Chris Evert has 37 wins. In Grand Slams they have played each other 22 Times and Martina Navratilova has won 14 times there and 14 of those were Finals of Grand Slams in which Martina Navratilova had a 10-4 record. This was a tennis rivalry that put the women’s game on a different level.
4) Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier – Boxing (1971-1975)
This list would not be complete without the mention of Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier as this is the single greatest boxing Rivalry of all time and one of the biggest sporting Rivalries of all time. There were a total of 3 Matches between the iconic duo and the first one was in 1971 and ug was labelled the fight of the century and Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier had the greatest boxing match and it went 15 rounds and Joe Frazier won by unanimous decision. The viewership numbers were record breaking and they grossed $45 million In ticket sales. The rematch happened in 1974 and this time it was Muhammad Ali who won the fight by unanimous decision and it led to the third and decisive bout. And the final was called The Thriller In Manila and it was a fight to the finish and till the last round it was close but Joe Frazier could have won the fight but his trainer threw in the towel and Muhammad Ali won the bout.
5) Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics – Basketball (1946- Current)
This is also one of the all time great sporting Rivalries of all time and this is the one that took the NBA to the next level as before this rivalry took storm in the 1980s , the NBA was not as popular as it is now and these 2 teams had a huge role to play. They have played against each other a total of 372 times and Boston Celtics have a win record of 208 wins and LA Lakers have won 164. These 2 are the most successful teams in the NBA as both of them have won 17 titles each and they are still hungry for more.
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