Boxer Taylor jailed in shooting of cousin

A Pulaski County sheriff’s deputy examines the clothing left in a parking lot at Dollar General store on Arkansas 365 in Marche by a victim after a shooting was reported at former professional boxing champion Jermain Taylor’s house nearby. The extent of the victims injuries was unclear.

A Pulaski County sheriff’s deputy examines the clothing left in a parking lot at Dollar General store on Arkansas 365 in Marche by a victim after a shooting was reported at former professional boxing champion Jermain Taylor’s house nearby. The extent of the victims injuries was unclear.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Former professional boxing champion Jermain Taylor was arrested late Tuesday in the shooting of his cousin during an altercation at Taylor's North Little Rock home, according to the Pulaski County sheriff's office.

Authorities are investigating a shooting that left one person injured at boxer Jermain Taylor's Pulaski County home.

Shooting at boxer Jermain Taylor's home investigated

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Deputies responded shortly before 6 p.m. to Taylor's home at 1 Vintage Drive in North Little Rock. The incident was reported as an "intruder on property call," sheriff's office spokesman Lt. Carl Minden said.

Taylor's cousin was found about 2 miles northwest of the home at a Dollar General store at 15620 MacArthur Drive. He had been shot two or three times and was taken to a hospital in serious condition, Minden said.

The cousin, who had not been identified late Tuesday, and another man had visited Taylor's home earlier and had an argument with the boxer, according to Minden. The dispute ended in gunfire.

Taylor was charged with aggravated assault and first-degree battery. He was being held in lieu of bond at the Pulaski County jail late Tuesday.

Minden said Taylor and his attorney were cooperative with investigators.

Late Tuesday afternoon, deputies stood outside Taylor's 39.24-acre property next to an iron fence bearing his nickname, "Bad Intentions," in gold letters. The gate also has "Private" in gold letters.

Sheriff's office investigators and Taylor's attorney, Allison Allred, were the only people allowed past the gates. It was unclear where on the wooded property the shooting occurred.

Allred arrived at the residence about 7:30 p.m. and declined to comment before walking up a long, winding driveway leading to Taylor's house.

Deputies did not allow Taylor's mother, Carlois Taylor, and other family members on the property. Carlois Taylor said her son had not been injured, but referred all other questions to Allred.

Minden said investigators were checking whether the home had security cameras that may have recorded the shooting.

"Obviously it seems to be a fairly nice house, so I'm sure there might be some type of surveillance," he said.

Taylor, 36, purchased the home in 2005, the year he beat Bernard Hopkins to become the World Boxing Council middleweight champion.

A 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, Taylor is scheduled to fight Australian Sam Soliman on Oct. 8.

Soliman is the current International Boxing Federation middleweight champion.

Taylor was the World Boxing Council middleweight champion of the world until Sept. 9, 2007, when he lost the first of two fights to Kelly Pavlik.

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

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 this month, is a Little Rock native.

He is 32-4-1 as a professional.

Metro on 08/27/2014