By Jake Donovan
With his kickboxing career still ongoing, albeit in a bit of a tailspin, French heavyweight Jerome Le Banner has decided that one job isn’t quite enough as he has opted to once again give boxing the old college try.
Le Banner has now won two straight since returning to the squared circle this past May. His latest victory came Friday evening, easily disposing of pudgy Czech journeyman Ladislav Kovarik in two rounds in Deauville, France.
The bout aired live on Eurosport.
A mismatch was sensed from the moment both fighters stepped into the ring, and Le Banner seemed none too thrilled with having to face yet another tomato can. There is obvious concern from his camp considering he’d been away from the sport for 11 years, but this fight was never competitive, nor was Le Banner exactly celebratory in scoring his sixth pro win.
Little action came of the first round until Le Banner landed a combination towards the end of the frame. Kovarik briefly wobbled, before an ensuing combination sent him to the canvas just before the bell.
Kovarik beat the count and survived the round, but put up zero effort in the second. Le Banner had his way before scoring another knockdown, at which point referee Christophe Fernandez waved off the bout without so much as issuing a count.
The win advances Le Banner’s record to 6-0 (5KO), though his own body language suggests a massive upgrade in competition is required. One month shy of his 27th birthday and with more than 100 fights lodged between boxing, kickboxing and MMA, a move will have to be made sooner rather than later if he is to make any noise in the heavyweight division.
An interesting note about Le Banner is that he converted to southpaw as a teenager. Drawn to the world of martial arts at age 14 after being taken aback by Bruce Lee’s Fists of Fury, Le Banner adopted the techniques of Jeet Kune Do, at which point he converted from conventional stance to southpaw.
Le Banner’s journey into the pro sports world began as a kickboxer in 1995, before briefly moonlighting as a boxer in 1998. Four fights into his pro boxing career, Le Banner returned to kickboxing full time, save for a brief spell in MMA, with five fights spread out over five years.
Also included in that fold is a foray onto the silver screen, having co-starred in four films between 2007-’08, with another feature role in progress for “Bruce” a Spanish film to be released next year.
Between kickboxing, cinema and boxing, 2010 has the potential to be a very busy year for the Frenchman. Whether or not it proves to be a productive one, at least in the squared circle, remains to be seen.
Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.