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Jermain Taylor
Professional Boxer and Former Undisputed Middleweight Champion
Lecester Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor began boxing at the age of 13 and has risen through the amateur and professional ranks to become one of the best boxers in the sport today. He won a bronze medal for boxing in the 2000 Olympics and became the undisputed middleweight champion in 2005, holding that title for two years.
Taylor eventually set his sights on the 2000 Olympic Games. On the way, he won two national Golden Glove titles, two PAL titles, the 1996 Under 19 National Championship, a second-place finish at the 1997 U.S. Championship, and a third-place finish at the 1998 U.S. Championship. Taylor’s first major amateur accomplishment was winning the bronze medal in the 1998 Goodwill Games.
Taylor succeeded in his goal and earned a place on the 2000 U.S. Olympic boxing team, becoming the second Arkansas-born person to do so. Taylor also became the second Arkansan to bring home a bronze medal from the Olympics for boxing, following heavyweight John Tate’s bronze medal in the 1976 games. Shortly after the Olympics, Taylor signed a professional contract with former Home Box Office (HBO) executive turned promoter Lou Dibella. Dibella Entertainment signed several members of the 2000 Olympic class and quickly set up Taylor’s professional debut at Madison Square Garden on HBO’s Night of the Olympians. Despite a successful debut, it was the other Olympians on the card who gained the focus of the boxing press.
Facing middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins on July 16, 2005, Taylor built an early points lead but began to fade in the later rounds. Nonetheless, he captured the undisputed middleweight crown by a split decision.
After winning the middleweight championship, Taylor successfully defended the belt four times. In those four fights, Taylor defeated Hopkins by unanimous decision in their rematch, scored a twelve-round draw with number-one-rated Ronald “Winky” Wright, scored a unanimous decision over Kassim Ouma, and scored a twelve-round split decision in a bout against Cory Spinks. On September 29, 2007, however, Taylor lost the title to Kelly Pavlik in a seventh-round knock-out; Taylor also lost a rematch with Pavlik on February 16, 2008. Later in 2008, he began training for matches at the super middleweight division. (He had been fighting in the middleweight division.) On November 5, 2008, he won his first bout in this division. Taylor entered the Super Six World Boxing Classic in 2009 but, following a knock-out, took a two-year hiatus from the sport, returning to competitive boxing in December 2011.
Taylor married basketball player Erica Smith of Brinkley (Monroe County) in August 2003. They have three children and live in North Little Rock (Pulaski County).
Besides boxing, Taylor is actively involved in the “Stamp Out Smoking” Healthy Arkansas campaign and is part-owner of a D1 Sports Training facility in Little Rock. Taylor has also spoken at several events regarding speech therapy for children who, like Taylor, suffer from speech impediments.
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