Nicaragua's National Police (PN) are investigating the suspicious death of Alexis Arguello, Managua Mayor and a boxing great.

Media said he died in the early hours on Wednesday of gunshot wounds to the chest.

He had been a rising star of the governing Sandinista party, and authorities declared three days of official mourning.

Assistant judicial police chief Glenda Zavala confirmed Arguello shot himself with a 9-mm pistol and was dead when relatives got him to the hospital. The autopsy report said the bullet hit the heart and left lung, and concluded the probable cause was suicide.

Arguello, who was elected mayor of Nicaragua's capital last year, had spoken publicly of his struggle with depression and alcohol and drug use.

Nicknamed "The Explosive Thin Man," Arguello retired from boxing in 1995 with a record of 82-8 with 65 knockouts and was a champion in three weight divisions. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992.

Source: Xinhua