Five-Time World Champion Kickboxer Steve Shepherd Passes Away

Marine1

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Oh God...the Tiger's Paw. Can you you imagine being a bouncer in that place? Back then, there was really no such thing as an assault charge for a bar fight, no one got sued, nobody went home cryin' to mama. If you squared off with a fella, the outcome was the outcome and that was that. I would argue that that place had more bar fights per square foot than any place in America at the time. And these were no ordinary bar fights. The biggest and angriest farm boys in the county would show up there, and they were just looking to leave someone bloodied and beaten. The drinking and shtty country music, were just an afterthought. Roadhouse was a tea party in comparison.

When I think of all the dangerous stuff I've done in my life - drag racing down the Lake Worth Bridge, flooring it down Alternate A1A at 135 mph with my headlamps off, diving head-first into a sinkhole in Gainesville in the middle of a moonless night without checking the water level first, etc., etc. - I count walking into that bar for the first time as a 118 lbs high-schooler wearing a polo shirt and khakis and sitting down to order a drink like I belonged there as one of them.

Tigers Paw was definitely the fight capital of the county. Big brawls were par for the course....and like you said they were Katie bar the door types. There were even hot country girls getting banned for fighting. I can definitely say we had some epic battles in there.
 

Marine1

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How about the Oktoberfest at the American German Club every year. Lantana I believe. My family loved those things. Lots of tents, 1000’s of happy drunks, German beer on tap, direct from Germany, and authentic German food.

Used to go there with my Dad. Not sure but I think it was on Lake Worth Rd just west of Military Trail.
 

Pablos Tunnel

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How about the Oktoberfest at the American German Club every year. Lantana I believe. My family loved those things. Lots of tents, 1000’s of happy drunks, German beer on tap, direct from Germany, and authentic German food.
Awesome times! I think its still going strong.
 

Tay Bang

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Used to go there with my Dad. Not sure but I think it was on Lake Worth Rd just west of Military Trail.

One of the last times we went, maybe 25 years ago, Dad passed out on the way home. That’s the only time I ever saw the Army combat vet go down.
:ohboy:
 

PastyStoole

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How about the Oktoberfest at the American German Club every year. Lantana I believe. My family loved those things. Lots of tents, 1000’s of happy drunks, German beer on tap, direct from Germany, and authentic German food.

Octoberfest is still happening, we live nearby and go every year. Not quite as bad as it used to be, trudging through a half inch of swill all night, listening to an "authentic" German band play the same insipid "authentically German" three songs all night, (since when did the Chicken Dance become part of Bavarian heritage anyway?). And of course the buses lined up to skip the formalities and cart away unsuspecting revelers to the DUI holding cell. They have like eight artisanal soap vendors there now, which is a little creepy, considering it has to cross everyone's mind that all those cakes could potentially be made out of boiled down human fat.

I've walked the DUI line twice in my life and both times got off by the skin of my teeth. One of those times was coming from Trees Wings and driving home on Forest Hill in my old '67 Coupe Deville with no registration. An absolute miracle that they let me off as I was hammered and had switched my tag. The bar tender at Trees saw us falling asleep at the bar we were so drunk and kept insisting on pouring us new pitchers. The only people in the place to converse with were Tree, who had a vocabulary limited to about 50 words and kept repeating, "I make the waaangs," and his bizarre, fast-talking New Yorker business partner who kept complaining about people constantly trashing his bathroom to the point that it was unusable. I'm not sure how that place stayed in business. Every time I went there the chicken wings were broken and deformed, as if his business parter had been hovering over the Cheney Bros. guy at delivery trying to get a deal on the rejects.

By the way, I'm not sure why but I drank at Boonies on more than one occasion and saw Huey's band there. I'll admit "Florida Cracker" was a pretty good song, but I hope that wasn't you guys crawling around on the ground doing the "Alligator." That was embarrassing.
 

Marine1

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I can promise you I never did the gator crawl but knew several who did.

As far as Huey Burns goes...that’s about as close as you can get without breaking into the big time. I always thought he would make it. That dude was (and still is) real good.
 

Theologator

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My hobbling 68-year-old cousin breaks the ribs of a would-be mugger in West Palm Beach before the guy flees in agony. Somewhere there's a very stupid criminal who is having a lot of trouble breathing today. This may be the feel good story of the year. :lol: They did a segment with him on it on Fox & Friends yesterday.

When I was growing up, Steve was my idol. He was continuously getting challenged by local rednecks who were *almost* bad and he always ended up putting them on their ass. He won fight after fight at the old WPB auditorium, and really was a local hero.

He asked me to come by his gym a couple of years ago when he'd just opened it up and he was helping me with my technique. I kid you not, when he hits a heavy bag it still sounds like a goddmn cannon.



Crazy cool. Thanks for sharing!
 

PastyStoole

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I know some of you knew him when he was in his heyday filling the Auditorium in West Palm Beach. Last November, Steve fell down a flight of stairs in the middle of the night while visiting his daughter in Pittsburg and broke his neck. He never fully recovered and died yesterday after a long battle. Here are some highlights during his prime. If you look closely you'll see a young PastyStoole in the background, usually a couple rows back from the scoring table, cheering his childhood hero on. Rest in peace, my man, you were a unique individual and a one-of-a-kind fighter. You taught me how to throw a left hook properly and you taught me what it means to be brave.

 

Marine1

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I just saw of Steve’s passing earlier this morning. Ruined my day as we all looked up to him. May he Rest In Peace.

I just reread this entire thread. So many great memories. So many names like Steve and Mark Herman. I was probably 6-8 years younger but ran with a real tough crowd that worshipped these guys. Lots of kickboxers when that was all the rage. But as previously stated it was the bar fights that were epic and legendary. I seemingly fought all of them….won some…lost some….drank beer with all of them. Wouldn’t trade those years for nothing!
 

Swamp Donkey

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I seemingly fought all of them….won some…lost some….drank beer with all of them. Wouldn’t trade those years for nothing!
such racism and toxic masculinity.
 

PastyStoole

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Saw that article this morning at breakfast and read many of the online comments and tributes. So many names popping up that I haven’t seen or heard in years. It’s amazing how well known and respected he was in WPB.
Lots of people you would have recognized at the memorial today. David Lewtrer, Mark Hermann. Steve helped get Mark Hermann pardoned for the Kruesler murder. Mark was his original sensei.

Interestingly Kruesler got shot 3 streets over from my house. I actually heard the gun shots. Kruesler's son was a friend and classmate of mine.
 

Marine1

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Lots of people you would have recognized at the memorial today. David Lewtrer, Mark Hermann. Steve helped get Mark Hermann pardoned for the Kruesler murder. Mark was his original sensei.

Interestingly Kruesler got shot 3 streets over from my house. I actually heard the gun shots. Kruesler's son was a friend and classmate of mine.

I was going to try to get over to Bradley’s for the event but had to run south and didn’t back in time. I figured there would be folks I knew there.

I followed Mark’s case for years. Wasn’t there a female attorney that just wouldn’t give up on him? I think he just released a book as well. I haven’t read it yet. I didn’t know him but knew of him. At one point he was a bouncer at the Royal Dutch. For some reason I thought Kruesler lived on the island? No? Wasn’t he an oil exec?
 

PastyStoole

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I was going to try to get over to Bradley’s for the event but had to run south and didn’t back in time. I figured there would be folks I knew there.

I followed Mark’s case for years. Wasn’t there a female attorney that just wouldn’t give up on him? I think he just released a book as well. I haven’t read it yet. I didn’t know him but knew of him. At one point he was a bouncer at the Royal Dutch. For some reason I thought Kruesler lived on the island? No? Wasn’t he an oil exec?

Yes, Kruesler lived on Via Marila, three streets South of me in Palm Beach. He was a Standard Oil executive. There was never any motive established for his murder. Mark Hermann was constantly at odds with the police, and he was very likely railroaded because of that. He was definitely a badass, and back then if the police put a target on your back your best bet was to leave town. There was no way you were going to avoid jail/prison time one way or the other.
 

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