Former kickboxing champ, 68, defeats mugger in TKO
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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.
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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,"
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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.