Former kickboxing champ, 68, defeats mugger in TKO

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Former 68-year-old kickboxing champ defeats mugger in TKO

Steve Shepherd, a 68-year-old former world champion kickboxer, turned the tables on a mugger who tried to rob him outside a Florida restaurant. He believes he cracked the mugger's ribs as he defended himself from being robbed on Dec. 27 in West Palm Beach. Shepherd suffered a ruptured eardrum, a cut and bruise.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A 68-year-old former world champion kickboxer turned the tables on a mugger who tried to rob him outside a Florida restaurant.

Steve Shepherd believes he cracked the mugger's ribs as he defended himself from being robbed on Dec. 27 in West Palm Beach, WPBF-TV reported.

"I hit him in the ribs, in the left rib cage area and he just folded up and dropped and I felt it break," Shepherd said.

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Shepherd is a five-time world kickboxing champ. Though retired 18 years, he's been training to become the oldest professional fighter. He has a March bout scheduled.

Deputies are looking for the mugger who fled after bystanders interceded.

Shepherd said he was leaving Anita’s Mexican Grill when the mugger snuck up to him and bashed him in the back of the head with a bottle. At the time, he was walking with a limp after pulling a muscle in his leg.

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"And then bam! I get hit in my head with a hand in my right eye," Shepherd told the station. "He was yelling at me, give me your phone, give me your phone, give me your effing phone,"

Shepherd suffered a ruptured eardrum, a cut and bruise

“I’m lucky,” Shepherd told the station. “I’ve never been knocked out ever.”

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That record is still intact--even on the street.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.