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Florida Boxing Champ Stops Robbery With K.O. [Video]

By Toni Matthews
Published on: 00:17 PST, Feb 20, 2016

When 26-year-old robbery suspect Anthony Nemeth tried to steal pain meds from a Florida Walgreens, he probably had no idea just how soon he’d need them. The robbery attempt may go down as one of the worst-timed in history — all thanks to a lack of awareness by Nemeth as to who the man was to the left of him happened to be.

Had the robbery suspect known, he’d likely have thought twice before carrying out his plans.

According to ABC13, David West arrived at the Walgreens in Bradenton, Florida, on Valentine’s Day. West’s goal was a simple and somewhat romantic one: He wanted to buy lunch for the loving girlfriend who worked in the store’s pharmacy. Fox Sports reports that David had just heard her say that she wanted Subway, when out of nowhere came Nemeth.

Nemeth had just one thing on his mind, and that was getting hold of free pain medication. What the would-be robber didn’t know is that the man to his left happened to be a two-time Florida boxing champ. Anthony also had no idea that one of the consequences of his actions is that his epic beat own was being recorded, and he would soon be going viral.

The raw footage of the attempted robbery (and the epic beatdown) can be seen in the YouTube video below:

https://youtu.be/2h5Tj6-ep7g

If you look closely, you can see David West talking to his girlfriend in the very bottom left-hand corner of the screen. A couple seconds into the video and you see Anthony Nemeth walk on screen from the left of West. He’s wearing a grey hoodie and white cloth in an attempt to disguise himself.

There’s no sound in the video clip, but by the way the man hops onto the counter and begins reaching around in his hoodie, his intentions are very clear. They’re certainly clear to the Florida boxing champ next to him. When David speaks, the robbery suspect climbs down from the Walgreens counter to confront him. That’s when a tussle ensues.

Thanks to vicious tugging efforts by the boxing champ, the robber is soon unmasked. When the busted robber attempts to make a run for it, he is thwarted by the Florida boxer, who you can see nail the man with a couple of blows on camera. There were reportedly four blows in all, with the knock-out punch landing off screen. The only on-screen evidence of a K.O. is a bunch of overturned containers.

We see David West standing victorious at the end of the video. Anthony Nemeth? Not so much.

Although the Florida native is being hailed nationally as a hero, David humbly admitted he “was just trying to do what was right,” and, in true Valentine’s Day spirit, “protect the one [he] loves.” Although the robbery suspect put everyone in danger, West actually expressed quite a bit of compassion for him. Although the boxing champ held the man until police arrived, he also offered him words of encouragement.

West said, “I told him [that] I hope he uses this as a turning point in his life.” We can only hope the man takes the advice he’s been given. That he was so violently thwarted by a customer might give the hapless individual some perspective, making him think twice before robbing any stores in the near future.

West spoke compassionately in part because, as he revealed to reporters, he knows people who have the “same problem” as the man who tried stealing prescription medicine. When all is said and done, David West expressed the sincere hope that Anthony Nemeth be given the opportunity for drug treatment.

[Image via screen grab from RawNews/YouTube]

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