The three-time world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali died at the age of 74, a family spokesman said.

The boxing legend who proclaimed himself “The Greatest” and opposed to the US government over the Vietnam war was admitted to hospital with a respiratory condition earlier in the week.

Ali had battled Parkinson’s disease for 32 years.

His family’s spokesman Bob Gunnell confirmed his death in Phoenix, Arizona, on Friday evening and in a statement he said that Ali family “would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and support” and asked for privacy.

The funeral will take place in Ali’s home town of Louisville, Kentucky.