Tomorrow night Jermain Taylor will get a shot at the IBF middleweight belt held by Australia's Sam Soliman. The fight will take place at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, broadcast on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.
After a disastrous 2009, it appeared certain Taylor would never fight again, let alone get shot at a "major" world title belt. After his second consecutive 12th round stoppage of the year (the first by Carl Froch, the second Arthur Abraham), Taylor was diagnosed with a severe concussion and bleeding on the brain.
Two years later Nevada's commission cleared him to fight, and Taylor's comeback was on. Wednesday's fight would seem to be the culmination of that comeback which has come against limited opposition and has been anything but dominant.
Taylor will take on Sam Soliman, a crafty and awkward veteran who won the belt from Felix Sturm in their second fight. Soliman earned a UD in the first fight which was later ruled a no contest after Soliman failed a post-fight drug test.
"Jermain’s fantastic. He’s very eager. Jermain knows what this fight means to him," said Burns. "He realizes that this is his second opportunity and that this kind of opportunity doesn’t come along very often. He’s just really ready to go."
Enough has been said already about whether or not Taylor should be fighting at all. This is a decent matchup and a pick'em fight in my estimation. Do you guys think Jermain has enough in the tank to lift the title from the crafty Soliman?