According to Lt. Carl Minden, a fight broke out, when ?[Jermain Taylor] grabbed a weapon and opened fire??
Many thought it was a bad idea when newly crowned IBF middleweight champion Sam Soliman chose former undisputed middleweight Jermain Taylor for the first defense of his title.
It?s not that the 36-year-old Arkansan isn?t worthy, which he is not, having peaked a decade ago. It?s that the brain bleeds he suffered were reason enough to get out when the getting was good.
But fighters fight, just as promoters promote, just as spiders spin webs, so there will always be a place in boxing for the Jermain Taylors of the world. After all, if he doesn?t have the good sense to quit, who are we to tell him to quit, especially when he can still generate revenue doing what he does best.
Those concerns, which are nothing less life and death concerns, have been replaced by other concerns. They don?t concern his being vegetative. They concern his judgment, which has been questioned before and is now being questioned again.
Taylor was arrested Tuesday at his home in Maumelle, Arkansas, on preliminary charges of first-degree battery and aggravated assault. He allegedly shot and wounded his cousin, Tyrone Hinton, at least two times when he and another man refused to leave Taylor?s home, at which they showed up ?uninvited.?
Hinton is hospitalized in serious condition.
According to Pulaski County Sheriff?s Lt. Carl Minden, a fight broke out, when ?[Taylor] grabbed a weapon and opened fire.?
After an uncomfortable night in jail, Taylor has been freed on $25,000 bail.
?He was,? said Minton, ?very calm and very cooperative with our investigators.?
Perhaps extenuating circumstances will make this go away.
The Oct. 8 championship fight with Sam Soliman at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi is still a go. Whether ESPN decides to broadcast the fight has yet to be determined.
