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11/22/2024 02:38:58 am

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Boxing News & Rumors: Ex-Middleweight Champ Jermain Taylor Pleads Innocence Due to Mental Illness in Assault Charge

Jermain Taylor

(Photo : Getty Images/Al Bello)

Boxer Jermain Taylor pleaded innocence due to mental disease to a battery charge last Thursday, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

The incident occurred May 13 at a rehabilitation center, the Oasis Renewal Center, where Taylor was undergoing treatment for substance abuse. 

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The man allegedly assaulted, a fellow habitant,  suffered multiple bone fractures. 

The 36-year-old  Taylor was reportedly transferred to Pulaski County jail is shceduled to undergo a mental evaluation.

No bail has been set since the examination hasn't yet been conducted.  

If convicted the Class D felony, Taylor faces up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 .

The Little Rock, Arkansas native has been more involved in fighting outside the ring than inside of it as of late.

Taylor is also facing eight felony charges over two arrests.

In August, allegations that he shot and wounded at his North Little Rock home landed him in jail.

Then he was again arrested in January threatening a family of five with a gun and fired multiple shots after a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Little Rock.

Taylor also blamed mental illness before an Arkansas courtroom moments on the gun-pulling incident, according to TMZ.

His attorney requested mental evaluation in this case, but was sent back to jail because he violated the conditions of release in the aforementioned assault incident. 

Taylor's shrink, according to TMZ, claimed that the boxer has exhibited signs of impulse control problems possibly due to boxing.

He recommended his release but added that he should be monitored, subjected to random drug and alcohol testing, undergo therapy and should not be allowed to possess a gun. 

The psychiatrist added that Taylor wants to change his life and that he's not dangerous when sober and unarmed.

Taylor's mother also insisted that the boxer is a good guy who has done a lot of good the state of Arkansas and for the country.

Taylor last fought in October 2014 when he scored unanimous-decision win over Sam Soliman to win the IBF middleweight title and raised his career record to 33-4-1 with 20 knockouts. 

He previously won the undisputed middleweight championship in July 2005 by beating Bernard Hopkins via unanimous decision 

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