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Taylor has severe concussion after KO, taken to hospital
Jermain Taylor, who was brutally knocked out by Arthur Abraham with six seconds remaining in their 12-round super middleweight fight on Saturday night in Berlin, suffered a severe concussion and was taken to the hospital, promoter Lou DiBella told ESPN.com Saturday night.
Taylor will remain in the hospital for several days, according to DiBella.
In the first bout of Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic six-man super middleweight tournament, Taylor, the former undisputed middleweight champion, appeared on his way to a decision loss to Abraham as the 12th round wound down. However, Abraham (31-0, 25 KOs) caught Taylor with a flush right hand to the chin and knocked him out. Taylor, whose head hit the canvas hard when he landed, needed immediate medical attention.
After Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs) left the ring under his own power, he complained of a headache, DiBella said. Taylor was taken to the hospital and underwent a battery of tests. DiBella said he would have additional tests, including another CT scan and MRI, before he is released.
"He has a severe concussion," DiBella said. "He also had some short-term memory loss, and in the interest of being completely safe and overly safe, he'll be in the hospital probably for several days. They believe the area of his head that was hurting him was from his head hitting the canvas. He'll be in Berlin for another week because the doctors didn't want him to fly, but his wife and his mother are with him."
DiBella said when they were in the dressing room after the fight, Taylor asked him what round he was knocked out in. DiBella told him, but Taylor asked him again a few minutes later. And then, according to DiBella, Taylor asked his wife the same question twice because he could not recall which round he had been stopped in.
Taylor was also knocked out in his previous bout in April, when titleholder Carl Froch rallied to stop him with 14 seconds left in the 12th round. Taylor, who outpointed Bernard Hopkins in 2005 to claim the undisputed middleweight championship, has lost four of his last five bouts, including three by knockout.
Whether Taylor remains in the modified round-robin Super Six tournament has not been determined, DiBella said.
If Taylor continues in the tournament, he would face Andre Ward next followed by titleholder Mikkel Kessler. Froch and Andre Dirrell are the other two boxers in the tournament. In his hometown of Nottingham, England, Froch outpointed Dirrell to retain his title on Saturday night in the second-half of Showtime's split-site doubleheader. Denmark's Kessler comes to Ward's hometown of Oakland to defend his belt in the final Group Stage 1 bout on Nov. 21.
"Jermain's health is paramount and whether he continues in the tournament or not is not a decision that has to be made right this second," DiBella said. "He suffered a bad knockout. He was suspended medically, like anyone who suffers a knockout, so we don't have to think about that right now. Right now, we're just concerned with getting him home and getting him healthy, and we won't explore anything else right now."
Should Taylor, or any other fighter, withdraw from the tournament, Allan Green, whom DiBella also promotes, has been designated by Showtime as the first alternate.
Abraham's knockout victory, in front of a supportive crowd of more than 14,000 at the O2 World Arena, was worth three points -- two for the win plus an xtra point for the knockout -- in the tournament. Froch picked up two points for his decision win. Taylor and Dirrell got no points for their losses.
The four fighters with the most points after three bouts apiece will advance to the single-elimination semifinals of the tournament, which will take approximately 18 months to complete.
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
Taylor will remain in the hospital for several days, according to DiBella.
In the first bout of Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic six-man super middleweight tournament, Taylor, the former undisputed middleweight champion, appeared on his way to a decision loss to Abraham as the 12th round wound down. However, Abraham (31-0, 25 KOs) caught Taylor with a flush right hand to the chin and knocked him out. Taylor, whose head hit the canvas hard when he landed, needed immediate medical attention.
After Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs) left the ring under his own power, he complained of a headache, DiBella said. Taylor was taken to the hospital and underwent a battery of tests. DiBella said he would have additional tests, including another CT scan and MRI, before he is released.
"He has a severe concussion," DiBella said. "He also had some short-term memory loss, and in the interest of being completely safe and overly safe, he'll be in the hospital probably for several days. They believe the area of his head that was hurting him was from his head hitting the canvas. He'll be in Berlin for another week because the doctors didn't want him to fly, but his wife and his mother are with him."
DiBella said when they were in the dressing room after the fight, Taylor asked him what round he was knocked out in. DiBella told him, but Taylor asked him again a few minutes later. And then, according to DiBella, Taylor asked his wife the same question twice because he could not recall which round he had been stopped in.
Taylor was also knocked out in his previous bout in April, when titleholder Carl Froch rallied to stop him with 14 seconds left in the 12th round. Taylor, who outpointed Bernard Hopkins in 2005 to claim the undisputed middleweight championship, has lost four of his last five bouts, including three by knockout.
Whether Taylor remains in the modified round-robin Super Six tournament has not been determined, DiBella said.
If Taylor continues in the tournament, he would face Andre Ward next followed by titleholder Mikkel Kessler. Froch and Andre Dirrell are the other two boxers in the tournament. In his hometown of Nottingham, England, Froch outpointed Dirrell to retain his title on Saturday night in the second-half of Showtime's split-site doubleheader. Denmark's Kessler comes to Ward's hometown of Oakland to defend his belt in the final Group Stage 1 bout on Nov. 21.
"Jermain's health is paramount and whether he continues in the tournament or not is not a decision that has to be made right this second," DiBella said. "He suffered a bad knockout. He was suspended medically, like anyone who suffers a knockout, so we don't have to think about that right now. Right now, we're just concerned with getting him home and getting him healthy, and we won't explore anything else right now."
Should Taylor, or any other fighter, withdraw from the tournament, Allan Green, whom DiBella also promotes, has been designated by Showtime as the first alternate.
Abraham's knockout victory, in front of a supportive crowd of more than 14,000 at the O2 World Arena, was worth three points -- two for the win plus an xtra point for the knockout -- in the tournament. Froch picked up two points for his decision win. Taylor and Dirrell got no points for their losses.
The four fighters with the most points after three bouts apiece will advance to the single-elimination semifinals of the tournament, which will take approximately 18 months to complete.
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
Oh my
I hope he gets well. This is a bit frightening.
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