Sheppard suffers KO in title fight
By STEVE HEMMELGARN, shemmelgarn@newsandsentinel.comELIZABETH - ''He got me with a kick before I got him with a punch.''
That was perhaps as succinctly as Wirt County's Mike Sheppard could put it when describing getting KO'ed in the first round by Switzerland's Xhavit Bajmari in his home country Saturday night in an ISKA Muay Thai rules super-heavyweight world championship kick-boxing fight in Luzern.
Going into Saturday's fray, Sheppard, who has become an international traveler of sorts over the last few years with his far-flung kick-boxing title exploits, was wary of the reputation Bajmari had as a powerful kicker.
''I've always had sort of thin legs, so I didn't want to get caught by him there before I had a chance with a punch,'' said Sheppard, who is proficient with his hands, having begun his ring career in 1994 as a traditional boxer, then got into MMA and now kick boxing.
''This guy (Bajrami) is at the top of his sport, and Myau Thai is the roughest form of it,'' explained Sheppard, still a full-contact rules world kick-boxing champion of another organization as well as the West Virginia state cruiserweight boxing champion. ''You can do stuff in Muay Thai you can't do anywhere else. There's no shin guards; these guys' shins are hard like a piece of wood and taped from the ankle on up, so they are rough on the outside too.''
Plus, ''he was a big guy, lean and fit,'' said Sheppard about his opponent. ''But if he was 6-4, then I'm 5-11,'' added the 6-2 Sheppard, and Bajrami used his height to good advantage to take down the West Virginian.
Sheppard had tried a couple kicks, ''but he (Bajrami) caught them,'' said Sheppard, before Bajrami launched a lethal kick that Sheppard thought he had fended off.
''But he was so tall, it came in high and got me way up on my head, almost right on top,'' said Sheppard, ''It felt like I got hit with a baseball bat.'' The decisive blow stunned Sheppard, dropping him to the mat to end the fight as he fell to 20-6-1 as an elite world-class kick boxer.
So what's next for the 34-year-old Sheppard? Obviously, ''I don't want to do this forever,'' he said. ''But at this point, I haven't set any age limit on it yet.''
He likes all three sports - regular boxing, MMA and kick boxing - and all the disciplines too. Another world-championship kick-boxing match in North Carolina in September may be in his future. But W.Va. pro boxing promoter Jerry Thomas is interested in having Sheppard defend his state cruiserweight belt against a challenge from undefeated (9-0) Justin Howes of Buckhannon in October or November.
So the ring warrior beat will continue to go on for Sheppard until he decides his business inside the squared circle is done.
