Jermain Taylor suffers injury and is arrested on new firearm charges

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JERMAIN TAYLORโ€™S career is on the brink of implosion.

The IBF middleweight champion will no longer fight Sergio Mora on February 6 after he suffered a fractured rib in training. It looks unlikely that the fight โ€“ originally scheduled for 2007 โ€“ will get a new date after it emerged that Taylor was arrested on new felony charges.

The 36-year-old was arrested and charged with eight felonies and one misdemeanour over an incident on Monday in his Little Rock, Arkansas hometown.

According to ESPN, Taylor โ€“ who revitalised his career last year by upsetting Sam Soliman to win the title – was charged with five felony counts of aggravated assault for allegedly discharging a gun, three felony counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and one misdemeanour count of possession of a controlled substance (marijuana).

Allegedly, Taylor shot the weapon five times after pointing at his wife, children and a bystander. It was after his arrest that the marijuana was found.

Allegedly, Taylor discharged the weapon five times Monday afternoon on a Little Rock street corner after pointing it at his wife, children and another bystander. When Taylor was arrested, police said, they found him in possession of a bag with marijuana in it.

Taylor was already facing trouble following an August 2014 incident at his home when he allegedly shot his cousin multiple times.

His promoter Lou DiBella โ€“ who originally faced criticism for employing Taylor after the boxer returned following a boxing-related brain injury โ€“ insists there are no plans for the fighter to resume fighting until all legal issues are dealt with.

โ€œThis obviously is a shocking development no matter what the exact details are,โ€ DiBella told ESPN, โ€œand it leads myself and his management [Al Haymon] to be more concerned with his well being, his mental health and his future than his boxing career.โ€

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