World boxing legend, Muhammad Ali, has been hospitalized with a health issue that is quite a disturbing one.
Muhammad Ali seen here victorious over Sonny Liston in 1965
Boxing legend, Muhammad Ali has been hospitalized with a serious respiratory issue, according to his spokesman.
However, the spokesman, Bob Gunnell said on Thursday that Ali, who has long battle Parkinson's Disease, is in'fair condition' and being being treated by doctors in Phoenix, where he lives, as a precaution.
He declined to say in which hospital Ali is based or when he was admitted. However, he did say that Ali's stay in hospital is expected to be 'brief.'
'He is being treated by his team of doctors and is in fair condition,' Gunnell said. 'A brief hospital stay is expected. At this time, the Muhammad Ali family respectfully requests privacy.'
Muhammad Ali
The three-time world heavyweight boxing champion's health has been fragile in recent years, but he has always succeeded in fighting back.
In January 2015 he was hospitalized with a urinary tract infection, and in late 2014 he was taken to hospital with pneumonia, but made a full recovery.
In February 2013, his brother Rahman Ali told The Washington Times that the boxing hero could be 'dead within days' - but of course he bounced back from that.
Ali has also long been fighting Parkinson's Disease, early symptoms of which - including stuttering and trembling hands - began in 1979.
He retired from boxing in 1981 and devoted his life to social and humanitarian causes. In 2005 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush.
Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie Wiliams
And although his public appearances have diminished since then, Ali has remained active on his official Twitter channel, and has also spoken up on major issues of the day.
In 2013, following a health scare, Ali's brother told The Washington Post that Ali wanted his gravestone to say: 'I tried to love somebody, I did try to feed the hungry. I did try, in my life, to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. The Greatest.'
Ali now lives with his wife Lonnie Williams at their home in Phoenix, Arizona.
