According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, IBF Middleweight champion Sam Soliman will defend his title against Jermain Taylor in October in the United States.
According to Warriors Boxing promoter Leon Margules and Lou DiBella, who are co-promoting the card, the contracts are signed for the fight to take place on Oct. 4. However, there is a good chance the fight will be moved to Oct. 8 and air on ESPN2 as a Wednesday night boxing special, one week after the network will carry the Oct. 1 title elimination bout between Curtis Stevens and Hassan N’Dam for the right to become the mandatory challenger for the Soliman-Taylor winner.
“Jermain is very excited about it,” trainer Pat Burns told ESPN.com on Wednesday. “We’ve won four fights since we got back together and Jermain has come back. I’d like to have had more fights, more activity, but that’s the business. Jermain has been maintaining himself and his weight is good. It should pay off for him. He’s already in pretty good shape.”
“We always wanted to get another opportunity. They don’t come around too often,” Burns said. “We have a second chance and it’s a blessing. He’s fortunate to have this opportunity. I know there are some who say Jermain shouldn’t get this opportunity and some that say Sam Soliman shouldn’t be fighting Jermain, but I don’t worry about the critics.
“I put them aside and let’s go ahead and see how it comes out. I think we’ll win the fight. I know Jermain will work hard. We will be prepared and let the cards fall where they may.”
“This should be a competitive fight,” said said promoter Lou DiBella, who has promoted almost all of Taylor’s fights. “Jermain came back for this kind of opportunity and he is getting it against probably the most vulnerable of the middleweight champions. It’s a winnable fight and a great opportunity. Jermain is very live to win that belt.”
Kurt Emhoff, an attorney and Soliman’s and co-manager, said Soliman has signed for the fight, deciding to fight Taylor rather than accept a unification fight against Gennady Golovkin that was also on the table.
“We got a very generous offer for this fight,” Emhoff said.
“They had the Geale fight coming up and we had to wait a little bit and then this offer came in and it blew the (offer for the) Golovkin fight out of the water,” Emhoff said. “It took Sam (17) years to win a title. He has fought everybody, but he’s going to be 41 and he was looking for the best possible financial package that was offered and that’s what we took.
“Jermain is ranked by the IBF, he’s a big name, he’s won four fights in a row and he beat Truax. So we know we have to be ready and we expect the best Jermain Taylor. He was seconds away from beating Froch. We’re taking him seriously. He’s a tough out for anybody.”
