The downward spiral of former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor continues. An arrest warrant has been issued for the ex-champ after he allegedly assaulted a man at a rehab center.
Taylor's lawyer has called the allegations "frivolous" and claims they're intended to shake down a famous athlete in a precarious position. Taylor was arrested in March after he pulled a gun on a family at a parade in Arkansas.
According to Toya Smith, the family wanted to take a picture with Taylor, then the IBF middleweight champion. During the course of taking the photo, Smith's son dropped Taylor's belt which enraged him to the point of him drawing his weapon.
"He bent down to give my son the belt and he almost fell over and dropped the belt, and he thought my baby dropped the belt," Smith said before describing how Taylor threatened her husband.
He put [the gun] up against his temple, I jumped in front of it and it went off up into the air," Smith said. "He was going to shoot him, but I saw it, he was going to kill him and I had to hit the gun."
This incident forced the cancellation of an upcoming bout with Sergio Mora, and Taylor vacated the title, which will be contested between N'Dam and David Lemiuex on June 20. At the time, his promoter Lou DiBella said boxing was the last thing on his mind regarding Taylor.
"His fight on Feb. 6 was going to be canceled due to a legitimate injury, a rib fracture, but this obviously is a shocking development no matter what the exact details are, and it leads myself and his management [Al Haymon] to be more concerned with his well being, his mental health and his future than his boxing career," DiBella said.
"Right now there aren't any plans to reschedule anything or think about his future in the ring until the events surrounding his legal issues are dealt with."
The incident at the parade followed a shooting in August in which Taylor shot his cousin multiple times and fired at another person.
© 2023 Sportsworldnews.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
