57 Facts About Jermain Taylor

1.

Jermain Taylor was born on August 11,1978 and is an American former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2014.

2.

Jermain Taylor remains the most recent undisputed middleweight champion, having won the WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, Ring magazine, and lineal titles in 2005 by beating Bernard Hopkins, and in doing so ending Hopkins' twelve-year reign as middleweight champion.

3.

Jermain Taylor defeated Hopkins six months later, making him the only fighter to have defeated Hopkins twice.

4.

Jermain Taylor retired as a world champion in the months that followed his capture of the IBF middleweight title for a second time, after making a substantial recovery from a brain injury sustained earlier in his career.

5.

Jermain Taylor made his professional debut in 2001 and won his first 25 bouts, which included victories over former champions Raul Marquez and William Joppy.

6.

Jermain Taylor, who began boxing officially at age 13, earned numerous accolades throughout his amateur career, starting with his achievement of the 1996 Under-19 Championship.

7.

Jermain Taylor went on to win a pair of Police Athletic League Championships and National Golden Gloves titles and he finished second and third at the 1997 and 1998 United States Championships, respectively.

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8.

In 1998, Jermain Taylor won a bronze medal at the Goodwill Games.

9.

At the 2000 Olympics, Jermain Taylor won a bronze medal in the light middleweight division.

10.

In 2009, Jermain Taylor challenged Carl Froch for the WBC super middleweight title, but was stopped with seconds remaining in the final round.

11.

Jermain Taylor returned in 2011, winning five consecutive fights and defeating Sam Soliman in 2014 to claim his second IBF middleweight title.

12.

Later that year, Jermain Taylor was arrested and detained on gun charges but would avoid a prison sentence in 2016.

13.

In December 2000, Jermain Taylor signed with boxing promoter Lou DiBella.

14.

Jermain Taylor made his professional boxing debut on January 27,2001, at Madison Square Garden in New York City against Chris Walsh.

15.

Jermain Taylor went on to fight six more times in 2001, resulting in six more victories.

16.

Jermain Taylor controlled the fight by using his jab and right hand throughout the one-sided contest.

17.

On December 4,2004, Jermain Taylor fought former WBA Middleweight Champion William Joppy in his hometown of Little Rock.

18.

Jermain Taylor fought Bernard Hopkins for the Undisputed Middleweight Championship on July 16,2005 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

19.

Jermain Taylor was able to successfully use his jab to control the first two rounds of the fight, though neither fighter was taking any major risks.

20.

Jermain Taylor tended to move forward, while Hopkins was patient and waited for openings in Taylor's defense.

21.

In order for the rematch to occur, Jermain Taylor vacated his IBF Middleweight title on October 11,2005.

22.

On June 17,2006, Jermain Taylor fought Winky Wright at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.

23.

Wright only paid sanctioning fees for the WBC belt, while Jermain Taylor paid fees to the WBC and WBO.

24.

Jermain Taylor did not pay the fees to the WBA amid controversy of the organization removing him from their rankings after questions of whether Jermain Taylor followed all procedures for the WBA before his rematch with Hopkins.

25.

Jermain Taylor was reinstated at the top the organizations' middleweight rankings, but his title remained under review.

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26.

Two of the three judges gave the round to Jermain Taylor, which resulted in a draw.

27.

On December 9,2006, Jermain Taylor fought Kassim Ouma at the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

28.

Jermain Taylor hurt Ouma early in the first round and continued to control the fight through the middle part of the fight with jabs and hooks.

29.

Jermain Taylor allowed Ouma to back him into the ropes often as the fight came to an end.

30.

On May 19,2007, Jermain Taylor went up against former Undisputed Welterweight Champion Cory Spinks at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

31.

Jermain Taylor dictated the fight by staying away from Spinks and landing one punch at a time.

32.

Jermain Taylor hurt Spinks with a right hand in the seventh round.

33.

One month later, Jermain Taylor exercised a rematch clause in his contract with Pavlik.

34.

On November 15,2008, Jermain Taylor defeated Jeff Lacy by a dominant unanimous decision to earn a mandatory fight against the winner of a bout between Carl Froch and Jean Pascal for the vacant WBC Super Middleweight title, a fight that was won by Froch.

35.

Jermain Taylor was able to control the first two rounds of the fight.

36.

Jermain Taylor got up, but Froch quickly went after him, trapping him against the ropes and landing a barrage of hard and fast punches.

37.

Jermain Taylor competed in the preliminary round of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, a tournament by Showtime, to find out who is the best boxer in the super middleweight division.

38.

Jermain Taylor was hospitalized with a severe concussion, suffering short term memory loss, unable to remember details of this bout.

39.

On December 30,2011, after 26 months away from the ring, Jermain Taylor finally returned and faced Jessie Nicklow.

40.

Jermain Taylor then took on then-undefeated Caleb Truax on April 25,2012 in another fight scheduled for ten rounds.

41.

Jermain Taylor controlled most of the action and survived a knock-down in round nine in order to win a unanimous decision victory.

42.

Jermain Taylor then faced boxing veteran Raul Munoz on October 12,2012.

43.

Jermain Taylor made short work of Munoz, winning via second-round KO.

44.

On October 4,2014, Jermain Taylor fought Sam Soliman, in Biloxi, Mississippi for Soliman's IBF Middleweight World Championship belt.

45.

On February 6,2015 Jermain Taylor was scheduled to defend his title against Sergio Mora on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights in Biloxi, Mississippi.

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46.

Jermain Taylor was married to former Louisiana Tech University basketball player Erica Jermain Taylor, who was selected in the second round of the 2005 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics.

47.

Jermain Taylor gained popularity in the state for frequently mentioning how proud he was to be from Arkansas.

48.

Jermain Taylor is known to be an enthusiastic fan of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks and has visited the Arkansas campus to talk to the football team.

49.

Jermain Taylor was named "Arkansan of the Year" for 2005 by the Arkansas Times.

50.

In 2007, Jermain Taylor was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame along with former NFL players Rod Smith and Willie Roaf.

51.

Jermain Taylor had been knocked out two times prior to the Abraham bout.

52.

Jermain Taylor was out on bond for his October 4,2014, bout versus Sam Soliman.

53.

On January 19,2015, Jermain Taylor was arrested without incident and a gun was recovered.

54.

Jermain Taylor was jailed on five felony counts of aggravated assault, three felony counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, and a misdemeanor count of drug possession after he was found to have a small bag of marijuana.

55.

Jermain Taylor was remanded to the custody of the Pulaski County Regional Detention Facility in Little Rock in lieu of a $27,000 bond.

56.

On May 20,2016, Jermain Taylor was given a suspended sentence of 19 years to be served concurrently, amounting to a six-year suspended sentence for three cases.

57.

Jermain Taylor was sentenced to probation and will have to serve 120 hours of community service, pay a $2,000 fine plus court costs, and will have to submit to regular drug screens.