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Boxing Great Muhammad Ali Hospitalized, Reported To Be In ‘Fair’ Condition

By Rahul Srinivas
Published on: 09:05 PST, Jun 2, 2016

Seventy-four-year-old boxing great Muhammad Ali was hospitalized on Thursday for a respiratory condition, NBC News reports. The news about Ali’s hospitalization has been confirmed by his representative Bob Gunnell who also added that the sporting legend was in “fair” condition and that he would remain in the hospital for a brief stay.

The statement issued by Ali’s family spokesman Bob Gunnell said the following.

“He is being treated by his team of doctors and is in fair condition. A brief hospital stay is expected. At this time, the Muhammad Ali family respectfully requests privacy.”

Ali, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, was reported to be in fairly good health over the past few months. The last time he was hospitalized was last year in January following a urinary tract infection which was earlier misdiagnosed to be pneumonia. Prior to that, Ali was hospitalized in December 2014 as well. Ali’s younger brother had, in 2013, told The Washington Times that Muhammad Ali was unable to speak and “could die within days.” The claim was refuted by Ali’s daughter, May May Ali, who revealed that her father was fine and that she had just spoken to him a few hours ago.

Ali, who is known to make few public appearances, was last seen in public in September 2015 when he attended an award ceremony in his honor organized by the University of Louisville. The ceremony celebrated Muhammad Ali’s career and his legacy as a hometown hero.

Ali was recently in the news after Donald Trump made his controversial anti-Muslim statement in which he suggested banning all Muslims from entering the United States. Ali, who embraced Islam in the 1960’s retorted, asking Trump to garner more understanding about the religion before making such statements. A statement issued by him back then read the followimg.

“Speaking as someone who has never been accused of political correctness, I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people’s views on what Islam really is.”

There has been no official statement about Ali’s hospitalization on his Facebook or Twitter pages. However, people did express their concern about Ali’s hospitalization on social media. We have embedded a few tweets below.

Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. on January 17, 1942, and is widely considered the greatest heavyweight champion in the history of the sport. Ali was conferred the title “Sportsman of the Century” by Sports Illustrated and “Sports Personality of the Century” by the BBC. A very flamboyant and personality in his youth, Ali was also known for his values.

Update: There has been no further updates on the condition of Muhammad Ali since we first reported the story. The NY Daily News has however reported that Ali’s family members were worried about his health. The report also stated that his latest visit is thought to be of a more serious nature compared to his previous two visits. Meanwhile, the Associated Press has cited two people close to the family who have revealed that the ‘respiratory condition’ due to which he has been admitted was complicated by the Parkinson’s disease he suffers from. Reporters also tried getting in touch with Dr. Abraham Lieberman, the doctor who has treated Ali for Parkinson’s disease over the years. He however declined to comment on Ali’s current condition.

“I can’t really say much more than what’s in the papers,” he said.

Many doctors have said that Ali’s Parkinson’s could have been the result of the thousands of blows he had endured over his long career that spanned over two decades.

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