Muhammad Ali’s family dispelled reports by his brother that one of the world’s most recognizable figures is close to death.
Raham Ali told a British newspaper that the former heavyweight boxing champion could die in a matter of days.
But May May Ali said she talked to her 71-year-old father on Sunday morning by phone and he was fine. She said he was watching the Super Bowl at home in Arizona, wearing a Baltimore Ravens jersey.
Ali has suffered from Parkinson’s disease for decades. “The Greatest” celebrated his 71st birthday last month. He and his wife, Lonnie, were at home in Phoenix on Sunday watching the game, family spokesman Bob Gunnell told The Louisville Courier-Journal.
“He looks great,” Gunnell said. “He’s having a Super Bowl party.”
“He’s fine, in fact he was talking well this morning,” May May Ali said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “These rumors pop up every once in a while but there’s nothing to them.”
The family later posted on Twitter a photo of Ali sitting in a chair, wearing a Ray Lewis T-shirt.
The rumors were started by a report in a British tabloid quoting Ali’s brother, Rahman, as saying the former heavyweight champion was near death. Rahman also said he hadn’t seen his brother since last summer and had no contact with the family.
The report was widely repeated on the Internet, drawing expressions of condolences on Twitter and Facebook.
According to Gunnell, the report of Ali’s imminent death, which was published over the weekend by both The Sun and The Daily Mail newspapers, was false. Rahman Ali was quoted as saying: “It could be months, it could be days. I don’t know if he’ll last the summer. He’s in God’s hands.”
