(Reuters) – Former heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks, who was hospitalized last month in a serious condition, is suffering from prostate cancer, his wife Brenda said on Thursday.
Spinks, 66, an Olympic Gold medalist in 1976 best known for a memorable upset victory over Muhammad Ali two years later in a world heavyweight title fight, was battling for his life in a Las Vegas hospital last month.
“It’s going to be a long road and a lot of work,” Brenda said in a statement to USA Today. “But we are bound and determined for the champ to make a comeback.”
The report says the cancer has spread to Spinks’ bladder. Brenda said that he has returned home and will undergo cancer treatment on an outpatient basis.
Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry