Former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor avoids jail

Jermain Taylor has escaped going to prison after being handed a suspended sentence on several felony charges stemming from three separate incidents.

The former undisputed middleweight champion pleaded guilty in December to nine charges, including firing a gun in public, shooting his cousin and punching a fellow patient at a rehabilitation clinic.

"I made a lot of mistakes. I just want to apologize to my state, to my kids and my cousin and my family," Taylor told Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson before being sentenced in Arkansas on Friday. 

"I've made some mistakes but I'm trying to come back."

Taylor was given a suspended sentence of 19 years to be served concurrently, amounting to a six-year sentence for the three cases.

He was also sentenced to probation and will have to serve 120 hours of community service, pay a $2,000 fine plus court costs, and will have to submit to regular drug screens.

At a hearing earlier this year, Judge Johnson granted Taylor's request to travel to Florida to train under constant supervision. 

'Bad Intentions' (33-4-1) ended the 11-year reign of ring legend Bernard Hopkins to win the WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF titles in July 2005 and won their rematch five months later.

He lost his titles and his undefeated record to Kelly Pavlik two years later but reclaimed the IBF crown in his last fight before he was arrested in Sepember 2014.

Taylor, who won bronze medal in wrestling at the 2000 Olympics, now faces three lawsuits from his victims and, according to his attorney, is broke.