Trainer: Taylor must win

Jermain Taylor stayed home in Little Rock to train for each of his first four boxing matches after returning from a two-year layoff.

Not this time.

Taylor, 36, has won every fight since his return to boxing in December 2011 from a head injury, but his camp decided the once undisputed middleweight champion needed a change leading up tonight's fight against IBF middleweight champion Sam Soliman at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Miss.

So Taylor spent the past month splitting time between trainer Pat Burns' gym in Miami and Ocala, Fla., a town of fewer than 60,000 just northwest of Orlando where Taylor has found plenty of sparring partners and few distractions.

Taylor has gone through three-a-day workouts under the watchful eye of trainer Pat Burns and his brother in Florida, and Pat Burns said last week he hasn't been more pleased with Taylor since their preparations leading up to Taylor's fight against Bernard Hopkins in 2005.

"I don't know what I was thinking training at home," Taylor said by telephone last week from Ocala. "It was just a big, total all-out mistake. There ain't nothing like going away, separating from everything and taking care of business."

Taylor (32-4-1 20KOs) will find out at 8 tonight how much the change in scenery has worked when he fights Soliman (44-11 18KOs), a 40-year-old Australian, for his middleweight title in the main event of a 12-bout card. It is Taylor's first title fight since losing to Carl Froch in April 2009.

Tonight's fight could serve as the seminal moment in Taylor's comeback effort that began more than three years ago. Taylor took two years off after being knocked out by Arthur Abraham in October 2009 and spending the night in a hospital in Berlin. Taylor has won four fights since his return (two by technical knockout, one by knockout and a unanimous decision).

If he wins tonight, Burns said "a much bigger" title fight awaits. If Taylor loses, the chance to reclaim a world title he held for two years likely won't present itself again.

"If he doesn't win this fight, then he would be regulated to just someone's opponent," Burns said. "He doesn't want that. I don't want that. His back is up against the wall. He has got to win this fight to move on."

Taylor understands the importance of this fight, too. He knows that most view fighters his age as generally being on the downturn of their career, and three turbulent years haven't done anything to help him. He realizes his chances to become a world champion again have come down to tonight.

"These chances don't come around that often," he said. "So, I'm going to take advantage of it."

Tonight's fight comes six weeks after the latest event that put Taylor back in national headlines because of troubles outside the ring.

Taylor pleaded innocent Aug. 27 to first-degree domestic battery and aggravated assault charges that stem from a shooting at his home that left his cousin hospitalized. Taylor posted $25,000 bond and had to get permission from a judge to travel to Florida to train for tonight's fight.

Taylor also was questioned by police in 2012 when a Mississippi woman said she had been injured after an altercation that involved the boxer at a Maumelle hotel. No charges were filed in that incident, nor were charges filed in 2011 when Taylor and his mother were involved in an altercation on a street in Maumelle.

Taylor declined to comment on his most recent legal issues, other than to say that nothing would distract him from tonight's fight and that he would take care of it later.

Burns said the incident wasn't talked about much during training.

"You've got to protect your family," Burns said. "I think what will happen is, if it ever does go to court, it will all come out and Jermain will certainly be exonerated from that. But I have not seen it interfere at all with his training."

Burns said over the past month Taylor has been more energized than at any time since the two reunited three years ago. Burns was in Taylor's corner for much of his rise as pro, including his two victories over Bernard Hopkins. But the two split after the second victory over Hopkins, and Taylor went 3-4-1 in eight bouts under trainers Emmanuel Steward and Ozell Nelson.

Burns said he and Taylor's relationship has changed a bit over the years. No longer is Burns' word the only one considered. The workouts are designed by Burns, but now Burns considers Taylor's advice more than he ever when the two talk strategy in the ring.

"You have to understand that this guy knows more about fighting than I do," Burns said. "You want to tap into what he sees. What I've done with Jermain, it's not autocratic. It's not democratic. It's somewhere in between."

Burns and Taylor will find out tonight if it's enough to make him a champion again.

"I'm ready to fight," Taylor said. "I'm ready to bring that championship back to Arkansas."

Sports on 10/08/2014