Los Angeles (AFP) - Boxing legend Muhammad Ali remained in hospital for a second day Friday for treatment of a respiratory ailment, amid media reports that his condition has been complicated by his Parkinson's disease. Ali spokesman Bob Gunnell told the Louisville Courier-Journal on Friday that the 74-year-old former heavyweight world champion remained in fair condition in the Phoenix area and that a brief stay was still expected.
Gunnell noted the "media frenzy" touched off each time the iconic fighter is hospitalized, but declined to give the newspaper in Ali's hometown further details on Ali's condition. US celebrity news website radaronline.com quoted an anonymous source as saying Ali required help breathing and that worried family members had gathered at his bedside. Gunnell did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment.
Ali, known globally not only for his storied ring career but also for his civil rights activism, has been hospitalized multiple times in recent years. He spent time in hospital in 2014 after suffering a mild case of pneumonia and again in 2015 for a urinary tract infection. His Parkinson's, thought to be linked to the thousands of punches he took during his career, has limited his public speaking for years.
Ali -- whose legendary boxing career stretched from 1960 to 1981 -- dazzled fans with slick moves in the ring, and with his wit and engaging persona outside it. His opposition to the Vietnam War saw him banned from the sport for years, but the US Supreme Court overturned his conviction for draft dodging in 1971.
Once vilified in some quarters for his conversion to Islam and his outspoken stance on civil rights issues, Ali held firm to earn dozens of tributes, lighting the Olympic torch in 1996 in Atlanta and being named a UN messenger of peace in 1998. He received the highest US civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2005.
