Boxing

Title shot finalized for Taylor

Soliman camp confirms ‘deal’

Jermain Taylor is getting a shot at the IBF middleweight championship against current champ Sam Soliman.
Jermain Taylor is getting a shot at the IBF middleweight championship against current champ Sam Soliman.

Jermain Taylor is moving back to the main event when he gets a shot at the IBF middleweight championship against current champ Sam Soliman according to Soliman's manager David Stanley.

Taylor was the middleweight champion of the world from July 16, 2005 after an upset victyory over Bernard Hopkins, which he defended with an even more convincing victory on Dec. 3, 2005, until Sept. 9, 2007 when he lost the first of two fights to Kelly Pavlik.

"We came very close to fighting [WBS super world champion] Gennady Golovkin, but this deal was too good to refuse," Stanley said of the fight with Taylor, which is expected to be Oct. 4 at a venue on the East Coast.

It has been reported Soliman will make high six figures for the fight; no details have been released on how much Taylor will earn.

Soliman, 40, is 44-11 in a career that has also included kickboxing but the Australian has won 32 of his past 38 fights.

A victory over Felix Sturm in Germany on Feb. 1, 2013, briefly gave Soliman the title, but that bout was ruled a no contest when Soliman tested positive for a banned stimulant and he was suspended nine months.

Soliman and Sturm fought again -- 16 months later -- on May 31 in Krefield, Germany, and Soliman prevailed again and this time the outcome has not been overturned.

Taylor, who turned 36 on Monday, is a Little Rock native who now resides in North Little Rock .

Taylor brought home the bronze medal from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and won his first fight as a professional in December of that year.

Pat Burns, assisted by Ozell Nelson, trained Taylor for a 25-0 run to start his professional career that included two victories over Hopkins.

Taylor changed trainers and went 3-3-1 before being knocked out by Arthur Abraham in October of 2009.

Taylor spent the night in a German hospital with a concussion and other injuries and was mandated by all boxing organizations to take at least one year off. Promoter Lou Dibella resigned after the knockout citing concerns for Taylor's health.

Taylor reunited with Burns and started a comeback in December of 2011. He has won four consecutive fights, the first three in a 10-month span, with his most recent action coming in December of 2013 as part of an undercard in San Antonio.

He is 32-4-1 as a professional.

Soliman has not lost a fight since May of 2008. He is a former ISKA and WKA kickboxing champion.

Sports on 08/13/2014

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