Steve Shepherd was a five-time world

kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

champion and a top pioneer kickboxing promoter in the state of Florida. He defeated eight world champions from five weight divisions, four of them during their championship reigns. He also decisioned future world champions Don Wilson, Ted Pryor, Dale "Apollo" Cook and Bob "Thunder" Thurman.Maslak, Paul (May 1986). “OK’s Kickboxing Report: Tribute to a Great Champion – Steve Shepherd”, ''Official Karate'' magazine, Charlton Publications, Inc., New York City, NY, USA, pp. 40-41, 62. Promoting events between 1977–1999, Shepherd was the first kickboxing world champion who was also a major event promoter. In the 1970s, he helped make South Florida a capital for the then new sport. Promoting principally out of

West Palm Beach Auditorium West Palm Beach Christian Convention Center (originally known as the West Palm Beach Auditorium) is a 5,000-seat multi-purpose arena in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the intersection of North Congress Avenue and Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard. It was ...

, he was the first kickboxer to draw over $1 million in live gate receipts. He further proved that the sport could be financially viable through regular live events at the same venue.

Biography

Shepherd was born on October 10, 1950, in New York City, New York. He later moved to Lake Worth and West Palm Beach, Florida.Barden, Renardo (March 1980). “The Comeback, Come-Down Knockabout Road to Double Champ,” ''Karate Illustrated'' magazine, Rainbow Publications, Inc., Burbank, CA, USA, p. 14. Steve died on May 12, 2021, due to injuries sustained in an accident in November 2020. He studied karate with Mark Herman and Paul Anselmo, earning his black belt in

Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" thro ...

- Goju

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

, before turning to the pro-kickboxing ring in early 1975. Shepherd opened his own karate school in West Palm Beach and also began promoting kickboxing matches. He maintained both ventures throughout his world championship career. After retiring from the ring, he trained, managed and promoted over 200 state, golden gloves national and world champions; both amateur and professional. He also ran Shepherd's Boxing & Kickboxing Center for over 25 years which became a favorite South Florida training facility for a multitude of popular champions:

Don "The Dragon" Wilson Donald Glen Wilson (born September 10, 1954), nicknamed "The Dragon", is an American martial artist, former professional kickboxer, and actor. An 11-time world champion who scored 47 knockouts in four decades, he has been called by the STAR Sys ...

, Bill “Superfoot” Wallace,

Oscar De La Hoya Oscar De La Hoya ( , ; born February 4, 1973) is an American Promoter (entertainment), boxing promoter and former professional boxing, professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. His accolades include winning 11 list of boxing sextuple ch ...

Zab Judah Zabdiel Judah (born October 27, 1977) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2019. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed championship at welterweight in 2005, and the ...

Michael Moorer Michael Lee Moorer (born November 12, 1967) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2008. He won a world championship on four occasions in two weight classes, having held the WBO light heavyweight title from 1988 t ...

Kassim Ouma Kassim Ouma (born 12 December 1978) is a Ugandan professional boxer. He held the IBF junior middleweight title from 2004 to 2005, and has challenged twice for a world middleweight title in 2006 and 2011. Early life Born into poverty, at the age ...

and others.IKF Kickboxing website
Retrieved 3 October 2012."About Steve Shepherd" and "About ArmorFit"

ArmorFit.com. Retrieved 18 October 2012. In 1979, he founded Ringstar Promotions for his live event business (1979-1999), Ringstar Products for his kickboxing equipment and, in 2009, ArmorFit for his mixed martial arts equipment business.

Fight career

Early on, Shepherd scored wins over Florida cult legends Gator Garland, Bill Clarke, Harold "Nature Boy" Roth (a.k.a. Harold Diamond), and Joe Marciano. He first courted national attention in 1978 when he defeated Bob Ryan for the

PKA In chemistry, an acid dissociation constant (also known as acidity constant, or acid-ionization constant; denoted ) is a quantitative measure of the strength of an acid in solution. It is the equilibrium constant for a chemical reaction :H ...

version of the welterweight world championship (at 157 pounds). Corcoran, John (1994). ''The Martial Arts Sourcebook'', Perennial Books, Harper Collins Publishers, New York, New York, Chapter 8. Six months later, in a bout broadcast over CBS-TV, he lost the title in a split decision to Earnest Hart, Jr. He rebounded in 1979, defeating Chris Gallegos for the WKA middleweight world title (at 160 pounds), and then became the first champion to unify the sport's two major crowns with a sixth-round knockout of Hart to regain the PKA welterweight world title. He was retroactively recognized as the undisputed STAR ratings world champion upon its founding in 1980. In 1981, after double sanctioning his rubber match title defense against Hart, the PKA exercised its legal right to remove Shepherd as its champion owing to a dispute over broadcasting rights. A few months later, Earnest Hart won Shepherd's involuntarily vacated title; Hart was the same contender Shepherd had just knocked out for a second time. In November 1981, Shepherd challenged PKA heavyweight world champion Demetrius "Oaktree" Edwards in an effort to embarrass the sanctioning body for having stripped his title. On the eve of that bout, the PKA withdrew its sanction for a heavyweight title defense. Nevertheless, while only a middleweight, Shepherd outpointed heavyweight Edwards in a 10-round non-title match in West Palm Beach, Florida,Camillone, Jude (Jan. 20, 1987). "Shepherd Announces Retirement from Kickboxing"
''Sun-Sentinel''
newspaper, Tribune Company, Ft. Lauderdale, p. 5 PALM BEACH PLUS a feat that made him the first middleweight kickboxer ever ranked number-one in the heavyweight division. He was also recognized as “Fighter of the Year” by ''Official Karate'' magazine's 1982 Kickboxing Hall of Fame. Previously, in early 1981, Shepherd knocked out Albuquerque's John Moncayo in the first round. However, in 1982 an improperly dieted and badly dehydrated Shepherd lost his title in Las Vegas over nationally syndicated TV to that same John Moncayo. Moncayo TKOed Shepherd with an overhand right that broke Shepherd's jaw. Moncayo also prevailed in the rubber match when Shepherd again sustained a broken jaw. One year later, in 1983, Shepherd moved up in weight to capture the WKA super middleweight world title from Japan's Yasuo Tabata in a close split decision. Shortly afterward, he was diagnosed with a ruptured disk in his neck that most probably occurred during his extraordinary battle against heavyweight champion Demetrius Edwards. The disk had pinched a nerve and shortened the reach of his right arm. He would never again possess the hefty punching power that had made him a champion. He announced his retirement from active kickboxing in 1987, though he made periodic return appearances until 1999, and has scheduled a fight for March 2019.Associated Press
"Mugger attacks senior who was a kickboxing champ, loses TKO"
''San Francisco Chronicle'', January 7, 2019. In a 1987 retirement interview, Shepherd told South Florida's ''Sun-Sentinel'' newspaper that his biggest fight purse was $45,000.00 and his smallest was $150.00.

Professional kickboxing record

Below is the documented professional ring record of Steve Shepherd from the S.T.A.R. ratings website. Shepherd fought 56 fights from February 1975 to June 1999. Of those fights, 50 were wins (27 knockouts), 5 were losses, and 1 was a no-contest. Shepherd dominated as a kickboxing

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

in 10 bouts over 4 weight divisions for 4 sanctioning organizations. As a middleweight, he also defeated one heavyweight world champion in a non-title bout. , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1999-06-18 , , Win , , align=left, Don Steadman , , I.S.K.A. event at National Guard Armory , , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision , , 5 , , , , 50-5-1 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1998-11 , , Win , , align=left, Tom Bentley , , I.S.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision , , 6 , , , , 49-5-1 , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 1994-09-24 , , Loss , , align=left, Francis Farley , , I.S.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , TKO , , 7 , , bell , , 48-5-1 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1993-06-19 , , Win , , align=left, Francisco Campeon , , I.S.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , KO , , 4 , , , , 48-4-1 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1990-07-14 , , Win , , align=left, Kevin Gruca , , I.S.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , KO , , 3 , , , , 47-4-1 , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 1988-07-30 , , Loss , , align=left, Robert Harris , , I.S.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Disqualification , , 7 , , 2:00 , , 46-4-1 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1987-12-11 , , Win , , align=left, Kevin Gruca , , Independent event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision , , 6 , , , , 46-3-1 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1987-10-21 , , Win , , align=left, William Knorr , , W.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision , , 5 , , , , 45-3-1 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1988-08-07 , , Win , , align=left, Alan Watson , , W.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision , , 5 , , , , 44-3-1 , - , - bgcolor="#c5d2ea" , 1984-10-20 , , NC , , align=left, Larry McFadden , , W.K.A. event at

Palm Beach Junior College Palm Beach State College is a public college in Lake Worth, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System. Palm Beach State College enrolls nearly 25,000 students in over 100 programs of study including bachelor of applied science, associat ...

Auditorium , , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , No Contest , , 4 , , , , 43-3-1 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1983-10-22 , , Win , , align=left, Yasuo Tabata , , W.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision (Split) , , 11 , , , , 41-3-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1983-08-19 , , Win , , align=left, Jerry Jenson , , W.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , KO , , 2 , , , , 42-3-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1983-07-08 , , Win , , align=left, Joe Marciano , , W.K.A. event at Diplomat Hotel , , Hollywood-by-the-Sea, Florida, USA , , KO , , 2 , , , , 41-3-0 , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 1982-11-06 , , Loss , , align=left, John Moncayo , , W.K.C. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision , , 11 , , , , 40-3-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 1982-06-26 , , Loss , , align=left, John Moncayo , , W.K.A. event at

Sands Hotel The Sands Hotel and Casino was a historic hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States, that operated from 1952 to 1996. Designed by architect Wayne McAllister, with a prominent high sign, the Sands was the seven ...

, ,

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Nevada, US , , TKO , , 9 , , , , 40-2-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1982-02-20 , , Win , , align=left, Daryl Croker , , W.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , KO , , 4 , , , , 40-1-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1981-11-19 , , Win , , align=left, Demetrius Edwards , , W.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision (Split) , , 4 , , , , 39-1-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1981-10-10 , , Win , , align=left, Frank Knight , , W.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , KO , , 5 , , , , 38-1-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1981-07-25 , , Win , , align=left, Dave Hedgecock , , W.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , TKO , , 3 , , , , 37-1-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1981-05-02 , , Win , , align=left, Bob Thurman , , W.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision , , 8 , , , , 36-1-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1981-04-22 , , Win , , align=left, Frank Medina , , Independent event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision , , 6 , , , , 35-1-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1981-02-03 , , Win , , align=left, John Moncayo , , W.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , KO , , 1 , , , , 34-1-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1981-01-19 , , Win , , align=left, Greg Smith , , W.K.A. event at Brassy's Nightclub , ,

Cocoa Beach, Florida Cocoa Beach is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,354 at the 2020 United States census, up from 11,231 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Palm Bay, Florida, Palm Bay–Melbourne, Florida, Melbourne–T ...

, US , , TKO , , 6 , , , , 33-1-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1980-11-07 , , Win , , align=left, Earnest Hart, Jr. , , P.K.A. & W.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , KO , , 7 , , , , 32-1-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1980-Fall , , Win , , align=left, Javier (surname unreported), , Independent event , ,

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, Florida, US , , TKO , , 1 , , , , 31-1-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1980-Fall , , Win , , align=left, Frank Williams , , Independent event , ,

, Florida, US , , KO , , 2 , , , , 30-1-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1980-Fall , , Win , , align=left, Julio Rodriquez , , Independent event , ,

, Florida, US , , TKO , , 1 , , 0:30 , , 29-1-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1980-07-26 , , Win , , align=left, Arthur O’Laughlin , , P.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , KO , , 6 , , 1:32 , , 28-1-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1980-05-17 , , Win , , align=left, Mike Brennan , , P.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , TKO , , 12 , , , , 27-1-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1980-02-08 , , Win , , align=left, Gary Baker , , P.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , TKO , , 2 , , , , 26-1-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1979-10-19 , , Win , , align=left, Earnest Hart, Jr. , , P.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , KO , , 6 , , 1:58 , , 25-1-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1979-05-26 , , Win , , align=left, Chris Gallegos , , W.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision , , 9 , , , , 24-1-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1979-03-07 , , Win , , align=left,

Dale Cook Dale Cook (born November 24, 1958; often billed as Dale "Apollo" Cook) is an American former kickboxer who competed in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and cruiserweight divisions. With a background in Boxing and Taekwon ...

, , Independent event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision , , 9 , , , , 23-1-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1979-01-13 , , Win , , align=left, Benny Fernandez , , P.K.A. event , ,

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a principal city in the Sarasota metropolitan area. Dow ...

, Florida, US , , KO , , 2 , , , , 22-1-0 , - , - bgcolor="#FFBBBB" , 1978-11-30 , , Win , , align=left, Earnest Hart, Jr. , , P.K.A. event , ,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia, US , , Decision , , 12 , , , , 21-1-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1978-10-20 , , Win , , align=left, Pete Manchee , , P.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , KO , , 4 , , , , 21-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1978-07-22 , , Win , , align=left, Bob Ryan , , P.K.A. event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision , , 9 , , , , 20-0-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1978 , , Win , , align=left, Jesse Brandt , , Independent event , ,

Stuart Stuart may refer to: People *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) * Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan *House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, ...

, Florida, US , , Decision , , 5 , , , , 19-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1978-04-15 , , Win , , align=left, Rick Herranz , , P.K.A. event at

Auditorium , , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , KO , , 2 , , , , 18-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1977-12 , , Win , , align=left, Bobby Sullivan , , Independent event , ,

, Florida, US , , Decision , , 7 , , , , 17-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1977-11-15 , , Win , , align=left, Jesse Brandt , , Independent event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , KO , , 1 , , , , 16-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1977 , , Win , , align=left, Gator Garland , , Independent event , ,

, Florida, US , , Decision , , 6 , , , , 15-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1977-09-10 , , Win , , align=left, Bill Knoblock , , P.K.A. event , ,

, Florida, US , , Decision , , 5 , , , , 14-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1977-07-16 , , Win , , align=left, Ted Pryor , , Independent event at

, , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision (Split) , , 7 , , , , 13-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1977-05-07 , , Win , , align=left, James Sisco , , Independent event , , Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, US , , KO , , 5 , , , , 12-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1977-04 , , Win , , align=left, Dennis Black , , Independent event at

Auditorium , , West Palm Beach, Florida, USA , , Decision , , 5 , , , , 11-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1977-03 , , Win , , align=left, Harold Roth (Harold Diamond) , , Independent event at Mr. America Contest , , Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, US , , KO , , 2 , , , , 10-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1976 , , Win , , align=left, Benny Fernandez , , Independent event , ,

, Florida, US , , KO , , 1 , , , , 9-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1976-09-11 , , Win , , align=left, Bill Clarke , , P.K.A. event , ,

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, Florida, US , , Decision , , 7 , , , , 8-0-0 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1976 , , Win , , align=left, Julio Rodriguez , , Independent event , ,

, Florida, US , , KO , , 3 , , , , 7-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1976-08-14 , , Win , , align=left, Napoleon Davis , , P.K.A. event , ,

, Florida, US , , KO , , 3 , , , , 6-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1976-08-07 , , Win , , align=left, Dave Dean , , P.K.A. & S.E.P.K.C. event , ,

, Florida, US , , Decision , , 5 , , , , 5-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1976-07-31 , , Win , , align=left, Rex Abernathy , , P.K.A. event , ,

, Florida, US , , Decision , , 5 , , , , 4-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1976-05-28 , , Win , , align=left, Gary Felder , , P.K.A. event , ,

, Florida, US , , Decision , , 5 , , , , 3-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1975-11 , , Win , , align=left, Don Wilson , , Independent event , ,

, Florida, US , , Decision , , 3 , , , , 2-0-0 , - , - bgcolor="#CCFFCC" , 1975-02 , , Win , , align=left, Harold Roth , , Independent event , ,

, Florida, US , , TKO , , 3 , , , , 1-0-0 , - , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Steve 1950 births 2021 deaths American male kickboxers Kickboxers from Florida Middleweight kickboxers 20th-century American sportsmen Sportspeople from West Palm Beach, Florida