Jermain Taylor was born on 11 August, 1978 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Jermain Taylor is a professional American boxer and former undisputed middleweight champion of the world. Jermain Taylor currently has a record of 27-2-1, with 17 wins coming by way of knockout.Jermain Taylor's amateur career was stacked with accolades beginning with the 1996 Under-19 Championship; he then won a pair of PAL Championships and National Golden Gloves titles and finished 2nd and 3rd at the 1997 and 1998 U.S. Championships respectively.
Jermain Taylor then progressed to the next level in his amateur career by winning a bronze medal at the 1998 Goodwill Games. Jermain Taylor also competed in the 1998"Boxer of the Year" award in Texas, coming in an impressive 6th out of 452 entries.
Jermain Taylor was the 1st boxer from Arkansas ever to compete in the Olympic Games. The progression of fights to qualify for a spot on the US Team was as follows:
Defeated Fritz Roberts (Virgin Islands) TKO 2
Defeated Luis Sierra (Puerto Rico) TKO 3
Defeated Scott MacIntosh (Canada) on points
Defeated Hely Yanes (Venezuela) on points
Competing at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Taylor ended up winning the bronze medal.
The progression of fights at the Olympics was as follows:
Defeated Dmitry Usagin (Bulgaria) RSC 1
Defeated Scott MacIntosh (Canada) 23-9
Defeated Adnan Catic (Germany) 19-14
Lost to Yermakhan Ibraimov (Kazakhstan) RSC 4
Amateur highlights:
1998 United States Amateur Light Middleweight Champion.
Results included:
Defeated Yamar Resto on points
Defeated Philip Thrasher on points
Defeated Chris Lords on points
Defeated Anthony Hanshaw on points
1999 United States Amateur Championships at Light Middleweight.
Results were:
Defeated Santiago Rodriguez WDQ 3
Defeated Peter Manfredo Jr TKO 2
Lost to Anthony Hanshaw on points
1999 National Golden Gloves Champion at Light Middleweight.
Results were:
Defeated Jason Aaker by split decision
Defeated Peter Manfredo Jr on points
Defeated David Leal on points
Defeated Dorian Beaupierre on points
Defeated Anthony Hanshaw on points
Since early in his professional career, Jermain Taylor had been touted by many as being the heir apparent to middleweight king Bernard Hopkins. Jermain Taylor dominated all of his opponents at the beginning of his career, scoring wins over respectable fighters such as Raul Marquez and William Joppy (although both were at the end of their careers). On 19 February, 2005, Jermain Taylor defeated the previously unbeaten Daniel Edouard via TKO in round 3. With this win, Jermain Taylor earned a title bout against Bernard Hopkins, who had unified the four major world middleweight titles and was rated by Ring Magazine as the #1 "pound for pound" boxer in the world.
Jermain Taylor fought Bernard Hopkins for the undisputed middleweight championship on 16 July, 2005. Jermain Taylor was more active than the slow-starting Bernard Hopkins early in the fight, missing many of his punches but still winning the early rounds on the official score cards. While Bernard Hopkins gradually became more active and maintained his defense, Jermain Taylor continued to fight aggressively and won some of the middle rounds. Over the last 4 rounds, however, Bernard Hopkins became the aggressor and battered Jermain Taylor, shrinking Jermain Taylor's lead on the scorecards. Nonetheless, Jermain Taylor survived the late surge and won the fight by split decision to become the new undisputed middleweight champion.
On 3 December, 2005, Jermain Taylor won the rematch against Bernard Hopkins again by a unanimous decision. All 3 judges scored the bout 115-113.
On 17 June, 2006, Jermain Taylor faced off against the number 1 contender, Winky Wright at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. Winky Wright surprised many by taking the fight to Jermain Taylor from the starting bell. From early on in the bout Winky Wright was able to trap Jermain Taylor in the corners and land combinations. The bigger and stronger Jermain Taylor, who threw more punches, owned the center of the ring. Jermain Taylor's trainer, Manny Steward, urged Jermain Taylor to stay off the ropes. At several points, Jermain Taylor seemed close to overwhelming Winky Wright with power punches, but Winky Wright always responded with a flurry of his own to keep the match close. Midway through the bout, Jermain Taylor's left eye started to swell dangerously.
By the end of the 11th, the fight was close, with Winky Wright holding a slight edge coming off a strong round. In the 12th, he seemed to have Jermain Taylor off guard with quick footwork and strong boxing, but Jermain Taylor rallied back. The match was scored 115-113 Jermain Taylor, 115-113 Winky Wright and 114-114, and Jermain Taylor retained his middleweight title. After the fight, an incensed Winky Wright left the ring quickly. When Larry Merchant managed to interview him later, Winky Wright made it clear that he felt he had done enough to win. "He didn't do nothing in the 12th," he said. "The fans saw I won that fight." Jermain Taylor was complimentary of his opponent, saying that he did not think he had hurt Winky Wright, whose jab was faster than the champ expected. But, he added, "If he wanted the title so bad, he should have fought all 12 rounds."
On 9 December, 2006, Jermain Taylor fought Kassim Ouma at the Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The match was made because Winky Wright pulled out of a 2nd December rematch, that had been previously scheduled. Fighting in front of 10,119 in attenance, Jermain Taylor repeatedly drilled Kassim Ouma with vicious shots that included numerous uppercuts that repeatedly jolted the undersized Kassim Ouma. Nevertheless, Kassim Ouma never backed off his attack against Jermain Taylor. Jermain Taylor suffered a deep cut in the corner of his left eyelid from an accidental clash of heads in the 5th round, and despite blood periodically flowing for much of the bout, Jermain Taylor continued to hammer away and score the win by unanimous decision.
On 19 May, 2007, Jermain Taylor fought Cory Spinks in Memphis, Tennessee. Jermain Taylor won by split decision over Cory Spinks to retain his title.
On 29 September, 2007, Jermain Taylor fought undefeated Caucasian Kelly Pavlik in Atlantic City. Jermain Taylor dropped Kelly Pavlik in round 2 and came close to scoring a stoppage, yet Kelly Pavlik bravely made it through the round and was able to get back into the fight. Coming into round 7 Jermain Taylor was leading on all 3judge's scorecards but lost his title to Kelly Pavlik when the referee stopped the fight after Jermain Taylor was suddenly knocked out late in the round. In post-match interview, Jermain Taylor said "I thought I was losing so I wasted a lot of energy trying to finish him off", indicating an agreement with Kelly Pavlik who also thought he was winning on the judges' scorecards. For the fight against Kelly Pavlik, Jermain Taylor was trained by Manny Steward.
There was a rematch clause in the contract of the Pavlik-Taylor fight, if Jermain Taylor lost. An above-middleweight rematch took place on 16 February, 2008 in Las Vegas with Jermain Taylor losing by unanimous decision.
Jermain Taylor will fight Jeff Lacy on 15 November in a WBC super middleweight eliminator on HBO.
Jermain Taylor is known to be a huge fan of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. Jermain Taylor gained immense popularity in the state for frequently mentioning how proud he was to be from Arkansas, and has visited the Arkansas campus to talk to various sporting teams. Jermain Taylor now sports a large Razorback on the back of his boxing robe, and "ARKANSAS" is spelled out prominently on his boxing trunks.
Jermain Taylor is married to former Louisiana Tech and former WNBA player Erica Taylor. Jermain Taylor is a graduate of McClellan Magnet High School, Class of 1997.
Jermain Taylor was also a playable boxing character in the video game Fight Night Round 3.
Jermain Taylor struggles with stuttering, mainly when he gets nervous, such as when doing numerous interviews as a boxing champion.
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