Jerome Le Banner vs. Ladislav Kovarik Boxing Results, JLB's Future Plans

Last night Jerome Le Banner made his return to boxing action in France, facing Ladislav Kovarik.  The full fight is available below, with results spoiled after the video:

This was always going to be a showcase for Le Banner more so than a competitive boxing match.  As such, it partially succeeds.  Le Banner does indeed look good in his round 2 TKO victory, however as the announcers point out, as a K-1 striker, Le Banner needs to be facing stiffer competition in his boxing career.  Defeating nothing but easily overmatched opponents has the potential to backfire and make him look like he can not compete at a higher level.

In an interesting piece of related news, Le Banner told K-1 in an interview that he was not sure how much longer he would be competing in the Grand Prix and that he anticipated retiring from K-1 in the near future.  With his reduced schedule and recurring arm injury, this news is no surprise, but it is interesting to hear Le Banner openly talk about it. I've said before that a post K-1 move to boxing would be good for Le Banner as it would protect his arm and allow him to utilize his fame to gain some high profile fights in Europe, and I still believe that to be true.  Look for his boxing schedule to increase in 2010.

Jerome Le Banner TKO Ladislav Kovarik, Rd. 2