By Jake Donovan

With a mandatory title challenge and growing legal troubles waiting in the wings, Jermain Taylor decided to sneak in an optional title fight for the first defense of his recently acquired belt. The two-time titlist—and former lineal middleweight king—will face Sergio Mora on February 6 at Beau Rivage Casino & Resort in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The bout will headline on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights, with the winner obligated to next defend against mandatory challenger Hassan N’Jam N’Dikam.

Mora teased the news earlier Saturday afternoon and then confirmed it later in the evening, both comments coming courtesy of his verified Twitter account.

"I've been to the top before and I'm quite familiar with the detours. No directions needed. #AndTheNew," Mora noted on Saturday, the first suggesting of his landing a title fight, before following up once an agreement was reached.

"I told you I was gonna get my title back," commented the 34-year old, although technically the belt for which he will contend is not the same title he held more than six years ago.

Taylor (33-4-1, 20KOs) regained a portion of the middleweight belt with a 12-round unanimous decision over Sam Soliman last August, in the same venue that will play host to the upcoming title defense. The fight was met with plenty of controversy for a variety of reasons both in and out of the ring.

The title fight with Soliman was Taylor’s first bout since a 7th round stoppage of badly faded Juan Carlos Candelo in Dec. ’13. The former middleweight champ did nothing of note in the ring since returning more than three years ago to actually earn the title shot, but was granted the opportunity on the strength of longtime relationship with adviser Al Haymon.

Preceding the fight was a shooting incident at Taylor’s home in Little Rock, Arkansas. The boxer is due to stand trial in late June, on charges of shooting his cousin during a dispute in his residence last August. If convicted, the 36-year old boxer is looking at a maximum of 26 years in prison.

Not helping his out-of-ring profile was another bizarre occurrence at his home, in which Taylor threw a brick through the car window of a female acquaintance , striking and injuring the woman in the process. Both parties filed charges against the other, with Taylor insisting he was attacked first and forced to defend himself .

All of this calls into question Taylor’s mental stability, especially given how his first career came to a close. The boxer was forced to exit the game in 2009, after suffering bleeding on the brain following a 12th round knockout loss to Arthur Abraham. The defeat marked the third time in the span of five fights in which he was violently knocked out, prompting his handlers—including promoter Lou DiBella—to walk sideways from his career and insisting he retire.

When Taylor elected to make a comeback in 2011, the old gang was restored, but not after the boxer was obligated to undergo and pass a series of medical examinations. The Arkansas native was granted a clean bill of health, though his recent history of violence doesn’t quite jive with those test results.

That said, the boxer will remain free and clear to continue his career as long as he can pass the minimal requirements that come with any given boxing medical examination.

Mora (27-3-2, 9KOs) comes in riding a four-fight win streak. The latest came in December, on the non-televised portion of a card dedicated to the late Dan Goossen, the beloved promoter who passed away last fall after a bout with liver cancer.

Once upon a time, Mora briefly served as a super welterweight titlist. An upset win over the late Vernon Forrest in June ’08 offered redemption to his fledging career, drawing industry-wide criticism for passing on a fight with Taylor—the middleweight champion at the time—in 2007, simply because he didn’t want to face him in Memphis, two hours from Little Rock and where Taylor had previously fought Winky Wright to a disputed draw.

Mora’s career revival was short-lived, losing his belt to Forrest just three months later. Still, it was long enough to become the first fighter from the ‘The Contender’ to win a major belt, a fitting honor considering he was the champion from the reality series’ inaugural season.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox