Medical staff at Wollongong hospital will begin physiotherapy today on boxer Shannan Taylor, who continues to fight for his life following a suspected drug overdose.Taylor has been on life support since being admitted to Wollongong hospital in the early hours of Monday morning following a suspected drug overdose.Taylor remains on life support but his condition has improved considerably in the past 24 hours.He has received physiotherapy throughout the afternoon as hospital medical staff continue to monitor him.His parents Steve and Karren have spent the majority of the past 36 hours at Wollongong hospital with their son.Taylor’s former trainer and still close friend, Brad Gallagher, has been at the bedside of the top boxer.Gallagher has been talking to Taylor and even though the ‘‘Bulli Blaster’’ still cannot respond, Gallagher believes he can hear him.‘‘Shannan is still on the life support machines to help him breathe but everything is going well,’’ Gallagher told the Mercury.‘‘He has a lot of colour ...he’s got a good suntan.’’Gallagher said while the doctors were not saying a lot, it appeared they were satisfied with how Taylor was progressing.‘‘Shannan will get physio three times a day starting today,’’ Gallagher said.‘‘He’s fighting hard.‘‘He has the heart of a lion.‘‘Like in the ring, he’s never given up in the ring and he’s not giving up now.‘‘Thank you for everyone’s support. My love goes to his family and kids.’’According to friends, the WBF middleweight champion was relaxed and happy on Saturday and his trainer, Nudge Mieli, said he was as fit as he had been in years.The 39-year-old was looking forward to a bout with Garth Wood in Melbourne in February.So it came as a great shock to those closest to him when they learned he was fighting for his own survival yesterday.
PHOTO GALLERY - Life and Times of Shannan Taylor"Shannan's been training so hard. He's boxing better now than he has for some time," Mieli said.There was speculation yesterday Taylor's condition was as a result of either drug or alcohol use, however, this remained unconfirmed at time of print.Conflicting reports led to widespread public confusion yesterday, with radio outlets and social media sites incorrectly reporting that Taylor had died.His family remained by his bedside yesterday and he was still on life support late last night.Taylor has three young children to his present partner, Bec.He also has a fourth child from a previous relationship.On Facebook yesterday, Bec asked for privacy and respect for the family."Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers at such a difficult time; as you can imagine it's a very hard time for myself and the children so I would like to ask that people please respect our privacy as I'm doing my best to shelter our children and trying my best to remain strong. Bec x"Known for his dynamic and powerful punching, Taylor became a household name when he fought "Sugar" Shane Mosley for the WBC welterweight title in Las Vegas in March 2001.At the time, Mosley was regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and stopped Taylor for the first time in his career with a sixth-round technical knockout."Hope God will bless him with his life back and a speedy recovery," Mosley posted on Twitter yesterday.Taylor has won 52 of his 65 fights to date, including 37 by knockout.In 2009, Anthony "The Man" Mundine won the vacant WBA international middleweight crown against Taylor in a unanimous points decision at WIN Entertainment Centre."My prayers go out to him and his family and hopefully he can pull through," Mundine said.Taylor bounced back from the loss to Mundine, winning his most recent fight to claim the WBF middleweight and IBF Pan Pacific middleweight titles over Sintung Kietbusaba at the Snakepit last month.Former Australian middleweight champion Vito Gaudiosi, now a trainer in Dapto, said Taylor is a warrior."I'm five years his senior - our birthdays are just a few days apart," Gaudiosi said. "He is a great athlete, and as a young person, as a kid he was destined to go all the way."He was only 14 when we started training together. We did a lot of sparing at the Bulli PCYC. He was a handful - a very crafty and strong fighter."
