Muhammad Ali hospitalised

Former three-time heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali has been taken to hospital with a mild case of pneumonia but is understood to be in a stable condition.

 Ali, who is battling Parkinson's disease, is being treated by his team of doctors and is in stable condition, said his spokesman, Bob Gunnell.

'He went into the hospital this morning (Saturday),' Gunnell said.

'Because the pneumonia was caught early, his prognosis is good with a short hospital stay expected.'

Gunnell declined to say where the 72-year-old Ali is in hospital. No other details are being released due to the Ali family's request for privacy, he said.

Ali appeared in public in September to attend a ceremony in his hometown of Louisville for the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards. He did not speak.

Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and devoted himself to social causes. 

He traveled the world on humanitarian missions, mingling with the masses and rubbing elbows with world leaders. Ali received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George W. Bush in 2005.