Thug left with broken ribs.
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (PNN) - January 5, 2019 - A mugger who attacked a Florida senior citizen walking with a limp picked on the wrong guy after it turned out his victim was a five-time kickboxing world champion.
Steve Shepherd, 68, was heading to his car in West Palm Beach with a pulled muscle when the suspect hit him on the head with a bottle and demanded his cell phone.
The retired professional boxer passed out but was able to regain consciousness and fight back.
He threw a punch to the attacker's head, and then hit his ribs.
Steve, who has been fighting since 1975, had even been wearing a T-shirt that read, “5x World Champion, Steve Shepherd's Palm Beach KickBox-SuperFIT” on the back.
Bystanders, who confused it for a street fight, stepped in and the man, who appeared to be in his 20s, escaped.
Shepherd, who was inducted into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame and owns a boxing gym, suffered a ruptured eardrum, a cut and bruises.
He said, “All of a sudden, bam. He started yelling at me, ‘Give me your effing phone’. His ribs were exposed and so I hit him in the ribs. I heard it crack and he dropped. I'm sure I broke his ribs. I could almost hear it. My claim to fame is I beat the guy who knocked out Mike Tyson.
What he learned was he picked on the wrong guy. I kind of feel sorry for him. Maybe it'll make people 50 and older feel a little less old and feel a little more useful.”
The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office says they are still looking for the suspect who had dark, long hair and had prowled the area for hours seeking a victim.
They say surveillance footage showed him “pacing back and forth in a nearby alleyway for a few hours, apparently waiting to mug someone.”
Steve is training for a fight in March, which would make him the “oldest professional fighter”, according to reports.
