Jermain Taylor Regains Middleweight Title Five Years After He Was Written Off
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
In 2005, Jermain Taylor beat Bernard Hopkins twice, taking the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO World Middleweight titles back to Arkansas. Taylor would figure into to seven world title bouts at 160 and 168 pounds. Four losses in five bouts between 2007 and 2009, losses to Kelly Pavlik, Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham, apparently doomed Taylor’s career to oblivion, opponents with a combined record of 117-0 at the time.
After a two year layoff, Taylor returned in December 2011, and defeated Jessie Nicklow, Caleb Truax, Raul Munoz, and Juan Carlos Candelo, to win a shot at regaining the IBF World Middleweight title held to Sam Soliman of Australia. Soliman, at age 40, had not been out of Australia in seven years, except for his two bouts with Sam Soliman in Germany this year and last year (a No Contest 12 and a Win 12).
Only two months after shooting his cousin is a domestic dispute, Taylor knocked down Soliman four times to regain his International Boxing Federation World Middleweight title on October 8, 2014, in the main event at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, Biloxi, MIssissippi. Soliman’s left knee gave out in the seventh round, enabling Taylor to drop Soliman in the seventh, the eighth, the tenth and eleventh rounds in a bout Soliman seemed on his way to winning. Add the ninth and twekfth rounds for Taylor, and that’s at least ten points in the bank on the judge’s scorecards for an easy championship win for Taylor, a surprising outcme given Taylor took off two years from 2009 to 2011 due to a brain bleed.
Taylor versus Soliman IBF title bout https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgMZJl0VGxg
Taylor evidently recovered, taking fights thereafter but none of great difficulty. How will Taylor now fair against Peter Quillin or Hassan N’Jam N’Jikam. These are the names being mentioned as next for Taylor from his boxing adviser Al Haymon. Which one it is anybody’s guess. Taylor, Little Rock, Arkansas, is 33-1-4 with 20 knockouts, and still faces two felony charges related to shooting his cousin. Soliman, Melbourne, Australia, falls to 44-12 with 18 knockouts.
Result: Jermain Taylor Win 12 Sam Soliman, Middleweights
Taylor Regains International Boxing Federation World Middleweight Title
Scoring: 116-109, 115-109, 116-111 Taylor. Referee: Bill Clancy
Taylor knocked down Soliman for knockdowns in rounds 7, 8, 10 and 11, four 10-8 rounds
Some Brief History About Fighters Who Tried To Regain The World Mddleweight Crown
Nino Benvenuti regained the WBC and WBA World Middleweight titles from Emile Griffith in 1967. Sugar Ray Robinson regained the World Middleweight title from Randy Turpin in 1951, Gene Fullmer in 1957, and Carmen Basilio in 1958. Stanley Ketchel regained the World Middleweight title from Billy Papke in 1908. Robinson was 0-3-1 in his last four middleweight title bouts, all of which went 15 rounds. Bernard Hopkins failed in his attempt to regain the World Middleweight title from Taylor in December 2005. Rodrigo Valdes regained the WBC World Middleweight title he lost to Carlos Monzon in June 1976 by winning the vacant WBC and WBA World Middleweight titles in November 1977 by stopping Bennie Briscoe. Valdes failed to regain the WBC and WBA World Middleweight titles in 1978 from Hugo Corro. Taylor won the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF World Middleweight titles when he defeated Bernard Hopkins in July 2005. Taylor defended every belt except the IBF belt, as such he regained the IBF World Middleweight title over nine years later, an all-time professional boxing record in the 160 pound division.
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