Just eight months after he almost died from a drug overdose, the ‘‘Bulli Blaster’’ is back in the ring.
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Shannan Taylor spent 47 days in hospital, where he had to learn to walk again with the help of a frame.
Now he is doing pad work once more at Wollongong PCYC.
But the damage done by the accidental heroin overdose on November 27 has left him uncertain on his legs, and he is on medication to prevent fits.
"They reckon the sensors in my legs are not responding straight away. My legs are walking but then all of a sudden, they go wobbly," he said.
"I am starting to come good now I reckon."
The man who once earned $700,000 for a single fight - against Shane Mosley in Las Vegas - is now living back with his parents on a disability pension.
It's been a roller-coaster ride for Taylor, 40, who was known as much for his flamboyant lifestyle as his talent in the ring.
In 2001, he admitted to using cocaine and said he had spent $40,000 on the drug in a single year, before discovering Christianity.
Yet he lost most of his money not on drugs, but on the man who became a close family friend and even the godfather of his eldest child, convicted fraudster Tony Caradonna.
The pair became business partners in 2002 before Caradonna persuaded Taylor to hand over the deeds to his Figtree house as security for a fight that never happened.
Caradonna was jailed in 2010 after conning dozens of people - including Alex Vella, president of the Rebels bikie club - out of an estimated $31 million.
Despite the hits he's taken, Taylor is still standing and is remarkably positive about his life.
"I get emotional days, I get all sooky and down but I am not one of these guys who believes in this product for this or for that," he said.
"I am one of those guys who just believes in getting out and doing it."
Tributes have flowed from many in the boxing community, from trainers to former opponents.
One of the strongest came from former trainer and triple world champion, Jeff Fenech.
"If we walked out today and got jumped by 50 guys there won't be one of you fighting, there'll be two," Fenech said.
"He'll fight with you to the death. That's what you want in a friend and that's why I love him so much."
But Fenech believes Taylor should now give the fight game away.
"I say to Shannan, 'Close the book, boxing is done mate. You've got nothing to prove, you've just won the greatest fight of your life'."