By Ian S Palmer
IBF Middleweight Champion Sam Soliman of Australia will be putting his belt on the line Wednesday, October 8 when he takes American Jermain Taylor at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Taylor is a former world champion who will more or less be fighting at home since he hails from nearby Little Rock, Arkansas. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the U.S. on ESPN 2 and Canadian viewers can catch it live on TSN 2.
The 36-year-old Taylor enters the ring with a record of 32-4-1 along with 20 Kos while the 40-year-old Soliman is 44-11 with 18 Kos to his name. Soliman’s on quite a hot streak since he hasn’t been beaten since 2008. He won the title via a unanimous decision in Germany over hometown fighter Felix Sturm on May 31. However, he fought Sturm 13 months earlier in Germany and won a unanimous decision which was then ruled a no-contest. His win was overturned after testing positive for a banned substance and Soliman was also banned for nine months. Therefore, this will be his first title defence.
Taylor has been off for the past 10 months and he’s been in trouble with the law recently as he allegedly shot and wounded his cousin a few weeks ago. He was charged with aggravated assault and first-degree domestic battery over the incident. This will be Taylor’s first shot at a world crown since 2009 and a lot of fans are wondering what he’s done to earn it even though he’s riding a four-fight winning streak. However, he’s accomplished it against the likes of Juan Carlos candela, Raul Munoz, Caleb Truax, and Jessie Nicklow. The only one of the four he didn’t stop was Truax, who he beat by a 10-round unanimous decision.
Both boxers are well past their prime, but Soliman has never really fought much better than he has recently. Taylor was in his prime about a decade ago when he beat boxers such as Bernard Hopkins (twice), Jeff Lacy, Cory Spinks, William Joppy, Raul Marquez, Alex Bunema, Alex Rios, and Kassim Ouma. He also drew with Winky Wright. Things fell apart for him shortly after though as he dropped four out of five contests between 2007 and 2009. He was beaten twice by Kelly Pavlik with one of the fights being a seventh-round TKO. He was also stopped by Carl Froch in the 12th round and Arthur Abraham also knocked him out six months later in the 12th round. Abraham, Froch, and Pavlik were all unbeaten when they faced Taylor, who then sat out for two years before returning to the ring.
Soliman has made the long journey for the fight after preparing for it at home in Australia. He said he’s not going to take Taylor lightly because he still considers him to be a world-class boxer. Soliman’s been beaten quite a few times during his career, but they came at the hands of some of the sport’s best performers such as Winky Wright, Anthony Mundine (three times), Sakio Bika, Raymond Joval, and Howard Eastman. He’s been stopped just once in his 11 losses and that was back in 2007 when Mundine finished him off in the ninth round.
Taylor stands 6-foot-1-inches tall with a 74.5-inch reach with Soliman measuring just over 5-foot-8 with a 70-inch reach. This gives Taylor quite an advantage in both departments, but Soliman typically overcomes his physical deficiencies with a lot of heart and determination.
Prediction
This is a highly competitive matchup even though it’s between two aging boxers. Soliman has the better chin while Taylor has more power. However, Soliman usually makes up for his relative lack of power by throwing punches relentlessly each and every round. They both have a lot of experience in general and in title fights. Soliman turned pro back in 1997 while Taylor followed suit four years later in 2001. Soliman will be the brawler while Taylor will try to utilize his superior boxing skills. This one really is a tossup with the only likely scenario being that it goes the distance. Let’s say Taylor wins a pretty good fight by a close decision.
