A courageous Sam Soliman has lost his IBF middleweight world title bout in a unanimous points decision against boxing's former golden boy Jermain Taylor.
Soliman, 40, from Melbourne, started strongly in the fight at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi on Wednesday.
But Taylor knocked Soliman down in the seventh round with a jab and in the eighth Soliman suffered a left knee injury.
With the usually elusive Soliman unable to move or put pressure on the leg, Taylor took advantage and scored knockdowns later in the eighth, ninth and 11th rounds.
In the final round Soliman's leg collapsed, but he got back up and finished the bout.
Soliman said the loss would not end his career.
"No, I'm not going to take up table tennis yet," Soliman said.
Soliman won the IBF title in Germany in May against Felix Sturm with a unanimous points decision.
Arkansas-born Taylor was one of the stars of the boxing world from 2005 to 2007, defeating the great Bernard Hopkins twice and defending world titles against Cory Spinks and Kassim Ouma.
But a string of losses, including being brutally knocked out by Arthur Abraham in 2009 that caused bleeding on his brain, forced 36-year-old Taylor out of the sport for two years.
In August, Taylor was charged with first degree domestic battery and aggravated assault for allegedly firing a gun at a cousin multiple times after an altercation inside his Little Rock, Arkansas home.
A judge granted him bail ahead of the trial.
Soliman falls to a 44 win (18 knockout), 12 loss professional record.
The 36-year-old Taylor moves to 33 wins (20 KO), four losses and one draw.
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