Muhammad Ali has a different kind of fight on his hands — currently battling pneumonia. Source: AP

The three-time world heavyweight champion, who is battling Parkinson’s disease, is being treated by his team of doctors and is in stable condition, according to his spokesman, Bob Gunnell.

An Associated Press report quoted Gunnell, who said the 72-year-old icon would likely be in hospital for a short stay after the condition was detected early.

“He has a mild case of pneumonia and the prognosis is good,” Gunnell said.

Gunnell declined to reveal which hospital Ali was being treated in but said he had been admitted on Saturday morning US time.

Muhammad Ali shares a joke with Jim Carrey. Source: Getty Images

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

He travelled 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.

The Muhammad Ali Center, in Louisville, is dedicated to Ali’s humanitarian causes and also showcases his boxing career.

Ali and his wife, Lonnie, have homes in Paradise Valley, Arizona; Berrien Springs, Michigan; and in Louisville.

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