Jermain Taylor became middleweight champion again on Wednesday night with a four-knockdown performance that lifted the IBF belt from Sam Soliman via a unanimous decision. Taylor (33-4-1, 20 KO’s) floored the defending champ in the seventh round and Soliman (44-12, 18 KO’s) injured his left leg, clearly impacting the rest of the fight. Taylor ultimately had his hand raised when the judges returned scores of 116-111, 115-109 and 116-109.
Taylor held middleweight titles from 2005-2007, before suffering his first pro loss to Kelly Pavlik. It started a stretch of four losses in five fights for Taylor, and the one-time darling of the sport fell into obscurity due to the punishment absorbed in the losses, especially the last two, TKO losses to Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham.
But on Wednesday night at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, MS, Taylor and Soliman locked up in a tight battle until the 7th-round knockdown and the injury suffered by Solimon. Taylor followed up with knockdowns in the 8th, 9th and 11th which sealed the unanimous decision victory.
On the undercard, Andre Dirrell (23-1, 16 KO’s) stopped Nick Brinson (16-3-2, 6 KO’s) with a fourth-round outburst after a somewhat slow start. Brinson came to fight and was busy with both hands as Dirrell measured him. But the difference in talent came through with a sudden barrage that was started by a spectacular counter shot from Dirrell. As Brinson absorbed punishment helplessly, the fight was waved off at the 2:12 mark of round four.
