Another Robbery Attempt Foiled By 68-Year-Old Kickboxing Champion
In another phone robbery attempt, 68-year-old kickboxing champion Steve Shepherd foiled an attacker in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Oddly enough, it was the second such occurrence involving a fighter as of late. UFC women’s strawweight contender Polyana Viana recently foiled a robbery attempt for her phone by subduing an attacker in Rio de Janeiro.
In this latest case, Shepherd was leaving Anita’s Mexican Grill on December 27, 2018. According to Bloody Elbow, he reached his vehicle and was suddenly hit over the head and punched the eye. ‘The former kickboxing champ detailed the situation to WPBF News:
“All of a sudden my knees buckled. And then bam! I get hit in my head with a hand in my right eye. He was yelling at me, give me your phone, give me your phone, give me your effing phone,” said Shepherd.
Turned The Tables
But it was his mugger who was then in for a rude awakening. Shepherd is a five-time world kickboxing champion. He holds a professional record of 50-5(1) with 27 KOS from 1975 to 1999. Shepherd won titles in four weight classes (welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight) throughout his career.
He may have appeared to be an easy target due to the fact he walked with a limp from a running injury. That didn’t stop him from battering the would-be robber. Shepherd hit him so hard that he felt his ribs break:
“I hit him in the ribs, in the left rib cage area and he just folded up and dropped and I felt it break.”
The robber was beaten badly but escaped. He was caught in this surveillance photo released by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office:
His assailant remains at large. $3,000 is being offered for any information leading to his arrest.
Shepherd said he suffered a bruised and cut eye in the robbery attempt. But he claimed he was ‘lucky.’ He runs Ringstar Promotions and Ringstar Products in addition to a kickboxing and fitness studio. Watch Shepherd discuss foiling the attack right here:
