In commemoration of its 30th anniversary, ESPN has enlisted thirty different film-makers to make 30 different films about 30 different things that happened since the cable giant first came on the air. The series, appropriately called 30 For 30, has delved into several sports stories that shook the sports landscape over the last 30 years, among them the Colts' move to Indianapolis, Wayne Gretzky's departure to L.A., the death of the U.S.F.L, and the death of Len Bias.

One of the most recent episodes was a documentary about the Larry Holmes-Muhammad Ali fight from 1980. The short film, "Muhammad And Larry," showed rarely-seen footage prior to their heavyweight fight. The actual fight itself is only covered in the last minutes, as it's the build-up to the event that the film focuses on.

I've enjoyed all the 30 For 30 episodes, but this was the first one that I could actually imagine writing a thesis paper about. Although the director never says a word about either fighter, the inferred character examinations on both Holmes and Ali are fascinating, as the two of them inch closer and closer to the day of the match. All the while you're asking yourself, "Why?" Why on Earth would Muhammad Ali, the most revered boxer in U.S. history, take on someone so much younger and stronger? Why would Holmes take on someone who hadn't fought in two years and was obviously well past his prime?

From the moment the cameramen enter Holmes' house and get a glimpse of his trophy rack, Holme's motivation is made pain-stakingly clear. Larry never liked that he lived in Ali's shadow. He didn't like that Ali was the "greatest of all-time" and that he was just another heavyweight champ. For Holmes, fighting Ali was his attempt at vindicating himself historically.

There's a beautiful scene midway through the film that shows Larry Holmes from 1980 driving around in his car, listening to a song someone had made of him. Several minutes later, the film seamlessly cuts to Larry Holmes from 2009, who is also driving around in his car. And wouldn't you know it -- he's listening to the same song almost thirty years later. And not only is he listening to it, he's singing the words to it from his heart. You can only imagine how many times he must have listened to that tape from 1980 to 2009.

Then there's Ali, whose motivation was much murkier. Obviously a fat paycheck can convince almost anyone to make a bad decision, but it was an especially bad decision for Ali, who was still lucid and healthy at the time. It was the fighting that he did in this fight and later excursions that wound up being the final nails in the coffin; the injuries he sustained from those fights landed him Parkinson's Disease and damaged his body forever. The man who was known for his elegance and grace is now no more than a shadow of himself.

Even after all these years, it's hard to find a definitive reason why Ali, 38 years old and a three-time heavyweight champion, would come out of retirement for this. Maybe he was so confident, so assured that he really was the greatest ever, that he felt he didn't need to be in top physical shape, that maybe his guile and his wisdom could lift him to victory in spite of their age difference. Maybe he was itching for another shot at glory, at proving to the world that he was, and still is, the best boxer ever. Or maybe he had surrounded himself with so many people with dollar signs in their eyes that there was nobody there to put a hand out and stop him.

For whatever reason, both fighters met in the ring and fought each other for 10 brutal rounds of boxing. It was as one-sided a fight as there has ever been without a knockout occurring. Holmes, for all his animosity towards Ali's status, was really a huge Ali admirer and was hesitant to deliver a killer blow. Finally the fight was stopped in the 10th, but not before Ali took punch after punch after punch to his head, each one looking more painful than the last.

It wasn't the shining moment that either Holmes or Ali was expecting. It was just a terrible fight between two fantastic boxers that, had reason prevailed, should have never happened. In the end, it may have been Ali's stature and legend that brought both men to the ring -- had Ali not been Ali, it's unlikely he would have been offered millions of dollars to come out of retirement; it's unlikely Ali would have been motivated for it; it's unlikely Holmes would have been motivated for it. Both men tried to recapture or capture the status as the greatest ever. Instead, both men put on one of the worst fights ever, and did nothing to improve their own regard in the eyes of the history books.