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LAS VEGAS -- Former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, who has not fought for almost two years following brutal back-to-back 12th-round knockout losses and a head injury, is seeking a license in Nevada as he continues plans for a comeback.
Taylor's request for a license will go through an important first stage Thursday during a meeting of the Nevada State Athletic Commission's medical advisory panel. Taylor's request is one of two items on the agenda for the panel, which consists of five Nevada doctors.
The panel will meet by telephone to discuss Taylor's application. He is allowed to listen to the call, according to Keith Kizer, executive director of the commission.
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The medical advisory board, which has reviewed numerous medical reports pertaining to Taylor, "will give a recommendation to the commission and we will have the issue on the agenda for one of our regular meetings at the end of September or early October," Kizer told ESPN.com Friday.
Taylor will be required to attend that meeting in person, at which the commission will vote on whether it will license him.
After Carl Froch knocked him out in a super middleweight title bout in April 2009, Taylor was invited to be part of Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic. In his first bout of the tournament in October 2009, Taylor suffered a severe final-round knockout against Arthur Abraham in Germany. He suffered a concussion, short-term memory loss and a small amount of bleeding on his brain.
Taylor, 33, dropped out of the round-robin super middleweight tournament in January 2010, although he did not announce his retirement -- only that he was "going to take some time off from the sport of boxing."
Earlier this year, Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs) reunited with his original trainer, Pat Burns, who refused to work with him until he underwent extensive neurological testing and promised to return to the 160-pound middleweight division.
They were making plans for an Aug. 13 comeback, which Showtime had committed to televising. However, Taylor was not licensed anywhere yet. Rather than go for one in a state with weak regulations, Taylor and adviser Al Haymon opted for Nevada, one of the strictest states in the nation when it comes to licensing fighters.
If Taylor is licensed in Nevada, he likely would be licensed in any state in the country.
According to Kizer, the medical advisory panel has examined all four of Taylor's medical reports -- from Germany following the Abraham fight; from his neurologist in his hometown of Little Rock, Ark.; from the Mayo Clinic; and the Cleveland Clinic's Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, which opened in Las Vegas in 2009.
Kizer said the report from Germany indicated that Taylor had suffered a small subdural hematoma against Abraham. In the past, that was an automatic disqualifier when it came to being licensed in Nevada.
However, the commission amended its rules a few years ago to hear from fighters on a case-by-case basis.
After three of Taylor's medical reports were forwarded to Nevada officials, Kizer said the commission suggested Taylor also be examined at the Lou Ruvo Center. Kizer said Taylor was examined there last month.
"Talking to the Cleveland Clinic, they say there is no evidence of degenerative change (in Taylor's brain), so they were pleased about that," Kizer said. "They looked at all the scans and there was nothing that they've seen that was like, 'Oh, my God' in the report."
Taylor could not be reached for comment.
Taylor's request for a license will go through an important first stage Thursday during a meeting of the Nevada State Athletic Commission's medical advisory panel. Taylor's request is one of two items on the agenda for the panel, which consists of five Nevada doctors.
The panel will meet by telephone to discuss Taylor's application. He is allowed to listen to the call, according to Keith Kizer, executive director of the commission.
Rafael's boxing blog
Get the latest scoop and analysis on the world of boxing from ESPN.com's Dan Rafael in his blog.
The medical advisory board, which has reviewed numerous medical reports pertaining to Taylor, "will give a recommendation to the commission and we will have the issue on the agenda for one of our regular meetings at the end of September or early October," Kizer told ESPN.com Friday.
Taylor will be required to attend that meeting in person, at which the commission will vote on whether it will license him.
After Carl Froch knocked him out in a super middleweight title bout in April 2009, Taylor was invited to be part of Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic. In his first bout of the tournament in October 2009, Taylor suffered a severe final-round knockout against Arthur Abraham in Germany. He suffered a concussion, short-term memory loss and a small amount of bleeding on his brain.
Taylor, 33, dropped out of the round-robin super middleweight tournament in January 2010, although he did not announce his retirement -- only that he was "going to take some time off from the sport of boxing."
Earlier this year, Taylor (28-4-1, 17 KOs) reunited with his original trainer, Pat Burns, who refused to work with him until he underwent extensive neurological testing and promised to return to the 160-pound middleweight division.
They were making plans for an Aug. 13 comeback, which Showtime had committed to televising. However, Taylor was not licensed anywhere yet. Rather than go for one in a state with weak regulations, Taylor and adviser Al Haymon opted for Nevada, one of the strictest states in the nation when it comes to licensing fighters.
If Taylor is licensed in Nevada, he likely would be licensed in any state in the country.
According to Kizer, the medical advisory panel has examined all four of Taylor's medical reports -- from Germany following the Abraham fight; from his neurologist in his hometown of Little Rock, Ark.; from the Mayo Clinic; and the Cleveland Clinic's Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, which opened in Las Vegas in 2009.
Kizer said the report from Germany indicated that Taylor had suffered a small subdural hematoma against Abraham. In the past, that was an automatic disqualifier when it came to being licensed in Nevada.
However, the commission amended its rules a few years ago to hear from fighters on a case-by-case basis.
After three of Taylor's medical reports were forwarded to Nevada officials, Kizer said the commission suggested Taylor also be examined at the Lou Ruvo Center. Kizer said Taylor was examined there last month.
"Talking to the Cleveland Clinic, they say there is no evidence of degenerative change (in Taylor's brain), so they were pleased about that," Kizer said. "They looked at all the scans and there was nothing that they've seen that was like, 'Oh, my God' in the report."
Taylor could not be reached for comment.