Comments Thread For: Jermain Taylor's Verbal Rift Draws Police Attention

[riffbox]

Racism works both ways my friend. I've seen plenty of racist comments directed towards whites on this forum.

It looks like people posts got removed. I know what I read. Sorry if I offended anyone, but its ridiculous on here. I come on to read about boxing and people calling people monkeys, gorillas, and a lot of other racist jargon. Im wrong for stooping to their level.

[New England]

Not one iota of news about Jermain Taylor for over a year, and within 10 days of Pat Burns announcing they had re-united and training for an August comeback, Burns is quoted as saying "Everything has changed in the last 24 hours" implying they may not be working together any longer, and now Taylor is seen arguing with his mother in public.

It seems all too convenient to be a coincidence... I'm guessing there is some drama in the Taylor family surrounding his rumored comeback. Maybe we'll eventually get the whole story, but maybe not.

i agree. his family has wanted him out of boxing for some time
he's squeaky clean for the ten years he's been boxing and all of a sudden he's in an altercation within days of announcing his comeback?


please stay retired, jt
you're one of my fav fighters and athletes and will be until i'm gone
you remind me of my youth
enjoy retirement, bro and be well

[SERVILEV]

still gonna say it. JT going to be the one to dethrone Martinez!

[fastblack]

money here would be on taylors mom knocking jermaine out cold. but who can understand the gibberish Taylor splurts out anyway? maybe an ebonics expert or hood dialect doctor.

[dstew]

Taylor not facing charges for recent altercation with mother
By Matthew Harris, Arkansas ********-Gazette
July 7, 2011

LITTLE ROCK — Former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor will not face charges after an altercation with his mother Tuesday at an intersection one mile from her home in Maumelle.

The incident took place at the intersection of Odom and Maumelle boulevards, according to a Maumelle police report. The report said Taylor, 32, shattered the driver’s side window of his mother’s van and threw her keys across the road before pulling away in a black Mercedes sedan.

In the report, Carlois Reynolds, 50, attributed the incident to stress over her son’s attempt to revive his boxing career after a 22-month layoff. It has been reported that Taylor is seeking an opponent for an Aug.13 fight in Little Rock that will be broadcast on Showtime.

Reynolds said Taylor “has been under extreme pressure concerning his career and his relationships with his family and friends,” according to the police report.

The report didn’t mention what started the fight specifically, and Reynolds told police she did not want to press criminal charges.

A witness told police that Taylor pulled up to the passenger’s side of the white Dodge van around 11:45 a.m., got out of his car and hopped in next to Reynolds.

Moments later, the window on Reynolds’ side of the van “blew out,” according to the report. Taylor then got out of the vehicle, returned to his car and turned left on to Maumelle Boulevard. At some point, he threw the keys to Reynolds’ vehicle across Odom Boulevard, the report said.

The witness, who declined to comment to the Arkansas ********-Gazette, went to help Reynolds and learned that she did not suffer any injuries but needed the keys to the van, which were on the opposite side median, the report said.

The witness told police they did not see the keys thrown through the window.

Police located Reynolds’ van later in the driveway of her home on Lily Drive, where she confirmed Taylor broke the window.

[dstew]

No foe, no date for Taylor fight
By Matthew Harris
July 7, 2011

LITTLE ROCK — Former middleweight world champion Jermain Taylor’s search for an opponent continues after a former welterweight and junior middleweight champion turned down an overture to fight Taylor.

Three-time champion Jose Antonio Rivera rebuffed a recent proposal by Lou DiBella, Taylor’s former promoter, to move up from his current junior middleweight status (154 pounds) to face Taylor in a bout at 164 pounds.

Rivera said Tuesday that he is focused on remaining as a junior middleweight as he returns from a 2 1/2-year retirement and didn’t think there was adequate time to add weight and fight Taylor on a compressed deadline.

“I understand where Jermain’s coming from,” Rivera said. “But I want to be in a position where I can be at my best. I don’t think fighting him in August gives me the best opportunity.”

A report Sunday in the Worcester (Mass.) Telegram & Gazette said a Taylor-Rivera fight would have taken place on Aug. 13, but that the match would have taken place in Rivera’s hometown at the 14,800-seat DCU Center in Worcester. Ten days ago, it was reported by ESPN that Taylor had reunited with former trainer Pat Burns and was preparing for an Aug. 13return in Little Rock against an unnamed opponent.

Rivera, 38, would need to receive a major incentive to be lured back into the ring at 163 pounds to fight Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs), trainer Jimbo Isperduli said.

“The only way we’d fight at 160 is for a major fight with [prize] numbers that are high,” Isperduli said. “Other than that, we’re not going to look at making a jump up right now.”

Rivera (40-6-1, 24 KOs) said he needs time to get in shape mentally and physically before considering a fight against Taylor.

“I need to have the mental focus back to back in the condition where I can go 12 hard rounds,” Rivera said. “ That’s the confidence I need to have to step back in the ring.”

Word that DiBella was involved with trying to find an opponent for Taylor also came as a surprise. The New York based promoter parted ways with Taylor in December 2009, citing concerns over Taylor’s health after he sustained a severe concussion that left him hospitalized following an October 2009 knockout loss to Arthur Abraham.

DiBella’s overture is the second sign that former members of the Taylor camp have lent a hand in trying to resurrect Taylor’s career, which was tarnished after he lost four of his last five fights, including back-to-back knockouts to Carl Froch and Abraham.

Taylor pulled out of the Super Six World Classic after his loss to Abraham, which began his current 22-month hiatus and prompted speculation that Taylor might retire.

Burns, who was fired in May 2006 after helping Taylor win the middleweight title in 2005 against Bernard Hopkins, told ESPN he had resumed training Taylor after the departure of longtime mentor Ozell Nelson.

Any talk of a reunion between DiBella and Taylor is premature. The promoter’s efforts to line up an opponent didn’t go beyond a chat with Rivera, according to a source with knowledge of the relationship.

“It was just totally an exploratory sort of call,” the source said. “It’s known Jermain wants to fight, but nothing has been set yet.”