Reports Suggest Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali Is “Close to Death”

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali is reportedly “close to death” after being hospitalized in the Phoenix area Thursday with respiratory issues.
Both the L.A. Times and Reuters reported sources close to the Ali family said he was in “grave condition” and that his death could come within hours.
The 74-year-old’s condition is complicated by the Parkinson’s that he was diagnosed with in the 1980s, the people told The Associated Press on Thursday.
NBC News reported Ali’s family had gathered by his bedside for what a spokesperson said was a “brief” stay. NBC News also quoted a spokesperson for Ali’s daughter Laila who relayed that “Laila’s number one priority is her father’s well-being. She truly appreciates the outpouring of love for her family, as she spends quality time with her dad.”
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 travelled 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.