That fight, the subject of Mr. Gast's riveting documentary and the less riveting final act of "Ali," may be the most mythologized sporting event of the last half-century.
And because so many details of a fight are subject to negotiation — its location, its judges, its contracted weight, and, above all, its timing — there is no neat way to separate the result from the negotiation that helped create it, no neat way to evaluate what happens in the ring separately from what happens outside it.
Do not fight your subject, surf it.
Consider the evolution of this corrupt rule, wherein the case of Eric Garner: A man who breaks up a fight is subjected to harassment by the police and fatally reprimanded because he expresses his rightful frustration, because he in fact did not do anything and those empowered by the law decided to mess with him, to assault him and deny his right to breathe.
Together, Mr Zoellick and Mr Lamy have settled fights on subjects ranging from bananas to copyright on Irish music.
But it has little stomach for a fight over a subject that touches such a raw nerve.
Froch's next fight was the subject of much scrutiny, with a deciding third fight against Mikkel Kessler touted or a second bout against Andre Ward, who defeated the Englishman in the Super Six Final in Atlantic City in 2011.
"On the assumption that this means the end of the chair of palaeography, I am having to fight for my subject," he says, "and I have been deeply moved by the level of support from friends, many of whom I have never met".
A messy fight over a subject as touchy as illegal immigration is a prospect many Republican leaders are eager to avoid, especially since three of their best hopes for 2016 are closely tied to the debate: Mr. Rubio, former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, and Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, who is expected to play a vital role once the House starts debating the issue next week.
Her fight became the subject of a movie starring Julia Roberts.
