Muhammad Ali in hospital with “respiratory issues”

Muhammad Ali is being treated in hospital for a respiratory issue caused by his Parkinson’s disease, says Ali’s spokesman Bob Gunnell.

The spokesman also said that the 74-year-old was in fair condition, and that a brief hospital stay was expected.

Ali’s long-time Parkinson’s doctor declined comment when approached by US press agency, The Associated Press.

Dr Abraham Lieberman of Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix said: “I can’t really say much more than what’s in the papers.”

Ali has been hospitalised 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 lived with Parkinson’s disease for three decades, his condition becoming well publicised after trembling while lighting the Olympic torch in Atlanta, 1996. Despite the disease, he kept up a busy appearance schedule until recently, though he has not spoken in public for years.