Jermain Taylor ordered to undergo mental evaluation

An Arkansas judge has ordered middleweight boxing champion Jermain Taylor to enter a state hospital and undergo a complete mental evaluation.

Tuesday's ruling came in response to a request from Taylor's attorney that his client be hospitalized after being charged with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a minor last week, according to The Associated Press.

Taylor, 36, was arrested after he allegedly opened fire and threatened to shoot a family during a Martin Luther King Jr. parade in Little Rock on Jan. 19. 

Taylor's arrest came nearly a month after he was accused of shooting his cousin at his home last August. He later pleaded not guilty to those charges, which included first-degree battery and first-degree terroristic threatening charges.

Prosecutors had sought to revoke Taylor's bond following his most recent arrest before his attorney put forth the request for a full mental and health evaluation. He will undergo neuropsycholoical tests as well.

"Everybody is saying this isn't the Jermain Taylor they know," Taylor's attorney, Hubert Alexander, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "We're trying to figure out who in the heck it is."

Taylor is scheduled to appear back in court Feb. 10.