Boxing legend Muhammad Ali hospitalized

Boxing Legend Muhammad Ali, 74, has been hospitalized due to respiratory issues, said the family spokesperson is a statement on Thursday.

He has been admitted to a hospital near his home in Phoenix. "Ali, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, is being treated by his team of doctors and is in fair condition," wrote family spokesman Bob Gunnell in a statement to the Associated Press. "A brief hospital stay is expected. At this time, the Muhammad Ali family respectfully requests privacy."

He has been hospitalized several times in the last few years, most recent one of his hospital visits being in 2015 when he was hospitalized for a urinary tract infection and the year before that for pneumonia.

Muhammad Ali became an Olympic gold medalist in 1960 and the world heavyweight boxing champion in 1964. Ali reclaimed the heavyweight title two more times during the 1970s, winning famed bouts against Joe Frazier and George Foreman along the way.

In his retirement, Ali has devoted much of his time to philanthropy and has traveled to numerous countries, including Mexico and Morocco, to help out those in need. In 1998, he was chosen to be a United Nations Messenger of Peace because of his work in developing countries.

In 2005, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush.