What to Know
- Ex-champion boxer Meldrick Taylor is charged with aggravated assault and related counts.
- Philadelphia police say he barricaded himself in a home for about 90 minutes overnight after an argument over an eviction.
- Taylor once held the welterweight world crown and won an Olympic gold medal in the featherweight division.
Former world championship boxer and Olympic gold medalist Meldrick Taylor is charged for his alleged role in an armed standoff with Philadelphia police.
Officers responded to a North Philadelphia property on Lehigh Avenue late Monday night after a 26-year-old man said Taylor pulled a revolver on him while trying to evict the man from a first-floor apartment, Philadelphia police said.
The man said that Taylor, 52, pointed the gun after the 26-year-old informed Taylor that he needed to give him days to vacate the property rather than force him to leave the next morning, police said.
When officers arrived and knocked on the door of the home, Taylor screamed, “I ain’t coming out,” police said. SWAT was called in and Taylor eventually surrendered after about 90 minutes, investigators said.
The Philadelphia native was charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats and weapons charges. It is unclear if he has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
Taylor had a distinguished boxing career highlighted by his Olympic gold in the featherweight division at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
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Taylor also twice held welterweight crowns, but his professional career is best known for his two losing efforts against boxing icon Julio César Chávez. The first bout in 1990 is considered one of the great bouts of the era even landing on ESPN's Top 10 list of superfights.
