TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Ali's family has gathered at his bedside in Phoenix
Change Size
In this Feb. 22, 2012, file photo, Muhammad Ali, center, with the support of sister in-law Marilyn Williams, left, and wife Lonnie, walks through the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's in Phoenix. Mohammed Ali is in the hospital with respiratory problems, and while officials haven't given details about his condition, the boxing great’s health in general is complicated by advanced Parkinson’s _ a degenerative disease he’s lived with for three decades. (AP/The Arizona Republic/David Kadlubowski )
M
uhammad Ali remained hospitalized Friday in the Phoenix area, battling respiratory problems serious enough to draw family members to his bedside.
The 74-year-old boxing great's respiratory issues have been complicated by the Parkinson's that he was diagnosed with in the 1980s, two people told The Associated Press a day earlier.
The two spoke separately in describing Ali's condition as being very concerning to family members. They declined to be identified because they were not speaking on behalf of the family.
Several of Ali's daughters reportedly flew to Phoenix late Thursday and early Friday to be with their father. Several of his children did not respond to messages from the AP Friday.
A spokesman for the former heavyweight champion said in an email Friday that there was no update on his condition.
Ali's longtime Parkinson's doctor declined comment when reached by the AP Thursday night.
"I can't really say much more than what's in the papers," said Dr. Abraham Lieberman of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.
Ali has been hospitalized several times in recent years, most recently in early 2015 when he was treated for a severe urinary tract infection initially diagnosed as pneumonia.
Ali has looked increasingly frail in public appearances, including April 9 when he wore sunglasses and was hunched over at the annual Celebrity Fight Night dinner in Phoenix, which raises funds for treatment of Parkinson's.
His last formal public appearance before that was in October when he appeared at the Sports Illustrated Tribute to Muhammad Ali at The Muhammad Ali Center in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, along with former opponents George Foreman and Larry Holmes.
Ali has suffered from Parkinson's for three decades, most famously trembling badly while lighting the Olympic torch in 1996 in Atlanta. Despite the disease he kept up a busy appearance schedule until recently, though he has not spoken in public for years.
Doctors say the Parkinson's likely was caused by the thousands of punches Ali took during a career in which he traveled the world for big fights.
An iconic figure who at one point was perhaps the most recognized person in the world, Ali has lived quietly in the Phoenix area with his fourth wife, Lonnie, whom he married in 1986.
News of his hospitalization brought well wishes from boxers and others on Twitter, including Sugar Ray Leonard, who modeled his career after Ali's.
"Prayers & blessings to my idol, my friend, & without question, the Greatest of All Time @MuhammadAli ! #GOAT," Leonard wrote. (bbn)
