NEW YORK -- Former boxing great Sugar Ray Robinson is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and diabetes and is totally dependent on his wife to care for his daily needs, Sports Ilustrated reported.
Robinson, 65, lives in Los Angeles with his second wife, Millie.
He also suffers from hypertension and, according to the report in the issue released Wednesday, is virtually incapable of speech.
Robinson won the welterweight championship and five times captured the middleweight title. He is considered by many the greatest fighter of all time, posting a record of 174-19-6 during a career from 1940-1965.
His first wife, Edna-Mae, and their son, Ray Jr., say Millie has refused to allow them to see Robinson.
'My father is virtually being held captive,' Ray Jr. is quoted in the weekly magazine.
Millie and Sugar Ray Robinson draw a salary of $37,000 from the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation, a government-funded organization for the inner-city children of Los Angeles.
'I take care of Ray,' Millie said in the article. 'He's my husband. I love him. I've been what I've been to him for all these years. I could hire help but I don't mind doing it. I don't need help. I have tears in my eyes I'm trying so hard. Ray's going to get better. He's not better now. ... My husband is not a yo-yo for people to jerk around as they please. I'm in charge now. I take care of Ray. I'm the one in control.'
Robinson won the Golden Gloves featherweight championship in 1939 at age 17 and became the world welterweight champ in 1946. In 1951 he won the middleweight title for the first time. He once fought for the light-heavyweight crown in 1952, and lost.
