Jermain Taylor Transferred to Drug Treatment Center: Latest Details and Reaction

Steve Barnes of Reuters reported Tuesday that boxer Jermain Taylor is heading to a drug treatment center, via Yahoo Sports:

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Former world middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, awaiting trial on several felony charges, was ordered by a judge on Tuesday to be transferred from a secure private hospital to a residential drug treatment center.

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Currently faced with assault charges that stem from two separate incidents involving guns, he was arrested in January for allegedly threatening a family with a handgun. The incident occurred in Little Rock, Arkansas, after a parade in Martin Luther King Jr.'s honor.

Per Reuters, "witnesses told police Taylor fired at least one shot into the air. No one was injured."

The other gun-related incident was "the alleged shooting of his cousin in August," as reported by ESPN.com's Dan Rafael.

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In February, a state psychiatrist recommended that Taylor receive psychiatric care instead of incarceration, partially so he can be "monitored for substance abuse," according to Reuters.

Taylor sports a 33-4-1 (20 KOs) record in his boxing career. He also captured the world middleweight belt against Bernard Hopkins back in 2005 and regained the title in 2014 when he knocked Sam Soliman down four times in an October victory while he was out on bail from the incident involving his cousin.

He missed more than two years of boxing after suffering bleeding in his brain from a loss to Arthur Abraham in 2009. However, Taylor has won five consecutive fights since returning to the ring.

The International Boxing Federation declared the championship vacant after the most recent incident and stripped him of his title because of his legal and medical issues. Rafael noted that the IBF used its rule 5.C. to strip Taylor of his title.

The rule states, in part: "Any boxer who is ill, injured, under a legal impediment which would prevent the bout from taking place, or on suspension at the time the championships chairman and president order a bout under this rule shall be considered unavailable."

As Taylor works through his legal and personal issues, it's unclear what the future holds for his career.