LITTLE ROCK — Maumelle police said Monday they were investigating a woman’s claim that boxer Jermain Taylor sexually assaulted her.
The woman was charged with drug possession but by Monday evening no arrest warrant had been issued for the former middleweight champion.
According to a Maumelle Police Department release, officers were dispatched to a Maumelle hotel shortly before 9:30 p.m. Friday in response to a report of a disturbance. They made contact with a 27-year-old woman, who told police she had gone to the hotel for the purpose of having sex with Taylor for money, and that they began arguing. She told officers she became frightened during the argument and fled, and in doing so she fell down a flight of stairs and injured her ankle.
In a police report, officers said they did not find Taylor at the hotel when they arrived, but that the manager, Chetan Patel, confirmed that the boxer had been at the establishment but left before officers arrived.
In an interview Monday, Patel said he could not comment “because the police told me not to say anything.”
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The woman was transported to Baptist Medical Center for treatment of her injured ankle. Once at the hospital, she claimed Taylor raped her, according to police.
She was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance and ordered to appear Tuesday afternoon in Maumelle District Court. She was released without bond after signing a promise to appear document, police Lt. Jim Hansard said.
Taylor did not immediately return a message left with his trainer Monday seeking comment.
Taylor, a Little Rock native who now lives in north Pulaski County, was previously the subject of a police investigation after a July 5, 2011, altercation in which he was reported to have broken a window on his mother’s van. No charges were filed in that incident.
Taylor turned pro after winning a bronze medal in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and then ran off a string of victories before getting a chance at Bernard Hopkins’ middleweight title in Las Vegas on July 16, 2005.
He surprised most of the boxing world with a 12-round decision. Less than five months later, he retained the unified title with another decision over Hopkins.
Taylor successfully defended his championship twice in 2006 and once in 2007 before meeting Kelly Pavlik on Sept. 29 in Atlantic City. Taylor dominated the fight early, but Pavlik knocked him out in the seventh round.
He lost a rematch with Pavlik early in 2008 and eventually moved up a weight class to super middleweight in 2009. He suffered a technical knockout at the hands of Carl Froch in April of that year and was kayoed in the 12th round of a fight with Arthur Abraham in October.
The brutal beatings he suffered in those two fights raised questions about his career and he was idle until Dec. 30, 2011, when he took out Jessie Nicklow. In April, he continued his comeback with a victory over Caleb Truax at a casino in Biloxi, Miss.
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Reporters Bill Lawson and Harry King contributed to this report.