The situation of Rudi Lubbers is so bad that he may die soon if he is not helped in the short term. This is what former cyclist Rini Wagtmans has set up for the 73-year old boxer.

The situation of Rudi Lubbers is so bad that he may die soon if he is not helped in the short term. This is what former cyclist Rini Wagtmans has set up for the 73-year old boxer.

The dire situation of Lubbers, who lives with his wife in a van in Bulgaria, came to light last Sunday via a broadcast of Andere Tijden Sport . Wagtmans is calling in the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today.

"Think of it as an arterial bleeding, and if there is no help now, there is no future, it will be too late tomorrow," says Wagtmans.

He quotes from a mail from a man who visited the now 73-year-old Lubbers on Wednesday. According to this man Lubbers van is permanently open in Bulgaria and is pretty cold. Lubbers' wife lay "in a fetal position under a blanket of fetus" and may even be dead, says Wagtmans.

In the episode of Andere Tijden Sport, it was clear on Sunday evening that Lubbers and his wife live in miserable conditions in Bulgaria, with a group of stray dogs that catch them. He said he does not want to return to the Netherlands because he is seen here as a drug dealer.

Lubbers is the only Dutchman who ever played boxing legend Muhammad Ali. He managed to stay twelve laps in 1973, but lost on points.