Sam Soliman, who won the IBF middleweight title from Felix Sturm on May 31 in Germany, has lined up his first title defense. The opponent will be none other than former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, who hasn't been a relevant contender in years.

Taylor, 35, dethroned Bernard Hopkins in July 2005 in a very close bout, then won another close fight in December of that year, when the two rematched. Taylor was pushed as a new top star by HBO, and rightfully so, as he was a young, talented American fighter who had just knocked off a fighter who was already on his way to the Hall of Fame.

Taylor's title reign, however, didn't go so smoothly. He fought to a debated draw with Winky Wright in his first defense, then scored wins over Kassim Ouma and Cory Spinks, neither fight particularly entertaining, and the latter a true snoozefest in Memphis. He was then knocked out by Kelly Pavlik in September 2007, and was never the same fighter.

Taylor (32-4-1, 20 KO) moved to super middleweight, after fighting out his contract with HBO in a win over fellow faded star Jeff Lacy in late 2008, which followed a rematch loss to Pavlik. His first fight at 168 pounds saw him nearly knock off Carl Froch to win the WBC belt, only to be stopped with 14 seconds left in the fight, taking a hell of a beating from the rallying Englishman.

Taylor then entered the Super Six World Boxing Classic, where he plodded through a fight with Arthur Abraham in Germany in his first matchup, before he was knocked clean out by a right hand just before the final bell in round 12. After that, Taylor left the sport with a brain bleed, missing two years of action before returning in late 2011.

Since then, he has rattled off four straight wins over Jessie Nicklow, Caleb Truax, Raul Munoz, and Juan Carlos Candelo. Truax gave him a decent fight and knocked him down once, but that win was really pretty solid, as Truax has gone on to show he's a capable fighter.

Soliman (44-11, 18 KO) is five years older than Taylor at 40, not much of a puncher, and frankly, he doesn't strike me as an overwhelming favorite in this fight. I know the general reaction will probably be that Taylor is doomed, and that this fight shouldn't be happening, but my gut feeling right now is that it's really not that bad. This is a chance for Taylor (who is still advised by Al Haymon) to secure a payday, go after a title, and not take a bigger risk than he normally would given his years of wear and tear, and his inarguably slipping skills.

Early talk is that the fight could land in Las Vegas in December, meaning that Taylor might not even have to go overseas for this bout, as one might have expected at first. All in all, it's basically the perfect situation for Jermain Taylor, and I'm sure he's thanking Al Haymon for this one. HAHAHA THAT'S A THING

It would probably be wise to expect this fight, if it does come to Vegas, to land on Showtime, possibly as a "special edition ShoBox" on a Friday night.