DHAKA: Former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali was hospitalized Saturday morning with a mild case of pneumonia, a family spokesman said.

Bob Gunnell told the Associated Press that the 72-year-old was being treated by his team of doctors and is in stable condition. He did not disclose the precise hospital where the Louisville native was taken.

Gunnell said that Ali's prognosis is good because the pneumonia was caught early, but he did expect the boxer to spend a short stay in the hospital. He declined to say where Ali was being treated and declined to release other details due to the Ali family's request for privacy.

Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1984, three years after his retirement. 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.

This past September, Ali attended a ceremony in his hometown of Louisville for the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards. He did not speak. He also attended the University of Louisville's Oct. 30 football game against Florida State.

"Muhammad is doing fine at this point," Gunnell told the Louisville Courier-Journal in October. "His speaking style is lower in tone, and as the day goes on, he doesn't speak as well as he does in the morning. But Muhammad's a strong person for his age and for the disease he has."

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

BDST: 1109 HRS, DEC 21, 2014