NEW ORLEANS -- Muhammad Ali's daughter denied rumours of her father being near death Sunday, saying he was at home watching the Super Bowl.

May May Ali said she talked to her father Sunday morning on the phone and he was fine.

"He's fine, in fact he was talking well this morning," she said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "These rumours pop up every once in a while but there's nothing to them."

The rumours were started by a report in a British tabloid quoting Ali's brother, Rahman, as saying the former heavyweight champion was near death.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 4, 2013 C4