Former middleweight boxing champion Jermain Taylor could be facing prison time following his latest arrest.
Taylor was arrested Tuesday morning in Arkansas after police responded to a domestic disturbance. The 38-year-old former champion is facing multiple charges, including misdemeanor domestic battery and interference with emergency communication and felony terroristic threatening.
Maumelle police spokesman Capt. Jim Hansard told reporters, via the Pulaski News, that officers were dispatched following a call from Ashley White, who claimed Taylor attacked her. White, who is identified as Taylor’s girlfriend, says Taylor bit her arm, and police noted visible bite marks in their report, and tried to prevent her from dialing 911.
He also allegedly chased her down the street and threatened to kill her. The police report says White pepper sprayed Taylor, who had an “odor of intoxicants.”
Tuesday’s incident is just the latest arrest for Taylor, who was arrested in January of 2015 following an incident the previous August. Taylor later pleaded guilty to nine felony charges stemming from the August incident, in which he shot his cousin, Tyrone DaWayne Hinton, and critically wounded him.
A judge sentenced Taylor to a six-year suspended sentence and probation with 120 hours of community service. He also had to submit to regular drug tests.
Taylor won the bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics and retired in 2014 with a record of 33-4-1. He famously won the undisputed middleweight title in 2005 with a win over Bernard Hopkins. Taylor retired after beating Australian Sam Soliman to win the IBF middleweight belt. A 2015 defense of that title against Sergio Mora was canceled following his arrest for shooting Hinton, who filed a civil suit against Taylor last year.
Because Taylor is on probation and serving a suspended sentence, Tuesday’s arrest could send the Little Rock native to prison.
