HUNT vs LeBANNER III - Your Thoughts?

Hi everyone

On May 25 in Paris K-1 World Champion Mark Hunt will face Jerome LeBanner for the third time.

Who will win?

I'd like your comments please... the best comments will be featured in the next issue of International Kickboxer magazine in which I am doing a story previewing the fight.

Thank you... lemme know your thoughts... can you also add where you are from:
ie: Michael Schiavello, Melbourne, Australia

THANKS
:-)

PS: Go Mark Hunt!!!!

My belief about this fight is that Mark Hunt will KO Jerome LeBanner. Mark Hunt has been improving woth each fight and always shows heart and excellent strength which LeBanner felt in there last fight. LeBanner thought he was just going to walk through Mark, But didnt expect the new Mark Hunt that he fought a year before.
This should still prove a difficult fight for Hunt and Lebanner but with Marks low centre of gravity and the sheer height and size of Lebanner, Lebanner will have difficulties control Mark when he is close and under Lebanner.
I believe we are in for the same result as HuntLebannerII.
My prediction KO2

Shane Sultana :Sydney Australia

Felix LaChance: Japan

a lot changed from hunt-lebanner 1 to hunt-lebanner 2. mark lost his jitters. he had fought a few k-1 stars like lebanner, hoost, and sefo. although he lost all those fights he looked more comfortable each time. i think he hurt lebanner's ego at the lottery when he chose the frenchman rather than either aerts or filho. i can imagine jerome training angry for the fight.

hunt-lebanner 2 was interesting in that lebanner was winning on points and mark knocked him out. if we were to use this fight as a predictor of the next one in paris, we would be fair in saying that mark has to knock out jerome or he'll lose on points.

since december 8th last year, even more has changed than between the first two fights. mark has gained weight. he has been flattened in both fights, one to a B class fighter. until these fights, we thought he would never go down. boy! did he prove us wrong! also, this is the first five round match for these two. that is also a factor.

can mark ko jerome? yep.
can jerome ko mark? probably, considering the nakasako and crocop fights.
can jerome beat mark on points? probably.
can mark beat jerome on points? doubtful, unless he makes some changes before the fight.

at this point, i'd say the pressure is on mark. in the last round against mirko, he must have been thinking "if i don't knock this guy out, i lose."

can you imagine what it was like for fighters stepping into the ring with andy or ernesto?

Well....This is going to be very interesting.

In my opinion, the last time they met was the best I have ever seen Jerome and Mark Hunt still won.

Since the K-1 Grand Prix, Mark had 1 win to Nakasako and a lost Mirko Tiger. After those two outings, there are couple of questions popped up :

a) Was Mark Hunt's victory at the K-1 Grand Prix 2001 a fluke?
Well....I don't think it was a fluke. Mark had the right style to beat the opponents he was lined up against during the grand prix.

b) Both Nakasako and Mirko dropped Hunt with high kicks. Does this means that Mark has a real weakness in defending against high kicks? No...I believe that Ernesto Hoost is still the best high kicker at K-1 (especially setting it up) and Mark wasn't troubled too much with Hoost's kicks.

I believe that Mark Hunt is a big match type of fighter. In a way, he is a bit like Hoost. Hoost used to have ordinary performances during the year (and even got KO a few times in the past) but when comes the big one that counts at later on the year, he is a total different fighter. I'm not taking anything from Peter Graham, but Hunt lost to him after the Oceania K-1. However, when the big fight comes, Mark improves his performanced 300%.

I believe that Mark suffered (temporarily)from overnight stardom syndrome. It's not often you see a young fighter who most of his career took fights at short noticed and usually fight for under 4 figures $$, to become millionaire instantly. I can almost feel what he might be going through right now. He would have lots of false friends (as well as true friends of course). Relatives and old friends who he hasn't seen in a while would want to get in touch with him. He would be mobbed everywhere he goes in Japan, not to mention newspaper, magazines and TV etc. etc. I think his feet wasn't fully touched the ground when he fought Nakasako and Mirko. I truely believe that his last lost to Mirko has helped to fully planted his feet on the ground. I can see Mark focus a lot better now than his first two fights after the Grand Prix. Mark would treat the importance of fight like the grand prix. I also realise that a lot of people think that the pressure is on Mark. I think not. I think the pressure is more on Jerome Le Banner. He was the one who requested the bout. The fight is on his home town so he must performs. If Le Banner tries too hard to please his fans and going for the KO, It will be the quickest way to get himself KOed. However, I have a suspicious feeling that perhaps Le Banner would lurk on the outside and draws Mark in. If so, he would win on points but we'll see one hell of a boring fight.

lots to consider, eh?

lots of questions will be answered on the big day that is for sure.

a agree with felix that its likely to be a victory on points by lebanner
or a ko by mark. lebanner is capable of easily outpointing mark, but he
has that vulnerble chin if he gets too close. also, it seems like lebanner
gets to fight easy fighters throughout the year so he could be overconfident
again. i think he has to resist the temptation to go for an easy ko if gets
an opportunity, but i dont think he can.

i just looked at the k-1 usa website:

>>Confident LeBanner in the closing ceremony: "I'm back in the game, and I'm going to destroy everyone."<<

sounds like hes NOT planning on a smart fight against mark hunt ;)

was dec 8th a fluke?

i agree. no, it wasn't. he won fair and square. then again mcdonald knocked out mirko fair and square and thompson knocked out abidi fair and square. that's the name of the game.

does mark have a weakness to high kicks?

perhaps. he bobs his head around a bit and against both nakasako and mirko his head was moving in the opposite direction of the kick. impact! that's how bernard knocked out stan. and the opening was there for him to do it against sefo too. i'm sure jerome's trainers see this and are preparing for him to capitalize on it.

is mark a big match fighter? perhaps. is paris a big match then? no. he's doesn't face elimination yet. is mark a five round fighter? not really but luckily neither is jerome. sorry lollo, this doesn't look like it is in marks favor. if anything is going to increase 300% it is his weight.

overnight stardom syndrom? that must be where all your friends convince you that as long as you are happy you can gain as much weight as you want. even on this board people said that his obesity was part of the winning combination.

jerome requested the bout? that makes sense. he probably took a dive against yasuda to get the rematch so quickly.

outside the ring the pressure is about equal. jerome must win back his number one status. mark must make up for the horrible performances in the last two fights. in the ring, jerome has a better chance of being knocked out but mark isn't that safe anymore. if the fight goes to the scorecards, mark is in trouble.

one thing that is in mark's favor is that it is easier to corner jerome than the fast footed mirko. lebanner could never move around the ring that much.

here are some stats from the hunt-crocop fight.
percentage of attacks-
initiated by mark: 37%
initiated by mirko: 63%

percentage of mirko's attacks that were met with counter attacks by mark: 18%
percentage of mark's attacks that were met with counter attacks by mirko: 22%

if you watch the fight you'll see that when mirko isn't punching back he is holding and smothering mark's attack. quite often mark neither fought back nor held. he just took it.

Mark will be better than his last two fights, Im sure. To do well you need to set yourself difficult goals, then strive to achieve them. Last year, Mark Hunt surely achieved all his goals and more. After that, it takes time to set new ones, and in the meantime you're not that hungry for success. Put Jerome LeBanner in front of Mark Hunt, and we'll see a hungry look in his eyes again.

Ben Ruck
NZ

felix youre right to point out the dangers of bobbing and ducking in kickboxing, especially when knees to the head are allowed! just ask
pettas about it.......

I believe Mark has some soul searching to do with everything he needs to start to revaluate refocus his situation before he became Grandprix Champion,
I would say his last two fights hopefully have woken him up.....
He did mention he has nothing to prove to anyone...
He has about 10 weeks to prepare for Jerome and fighters in the K1 have started to work out Marks weakness I honestly believe he can beat Jerome again if he stays focused,if he has the attitude like I don!t care he will lose the fight before he even gets in the ring...
I agree with Lollo about the big transition Mark has just been through...
I guess it is taking its toll and now when it comes to fighting Mark has not got what he had before winning the Grandprix...I thought mark would have beaten Mirko Cop,it is obvious his fitness let him down and ajusting to 5rounders does not help with his fighting at the moment....
I still feel Mark is in a settling in stage with his new found fame and I hope
that he takes everything a bit more seriously now...
With FAME THERE WILL STILL BE PAIN.......
Go Marky Mark you are right you have nothing to prove to anyone.....
Just train hard and do your best NO Matter what I will still be here supporting you.............GOODLUCK..STAY FOCUSED.YOU CAN STILL WIN
BACK TO BACK.I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT.......
Regards
Lucy Tui

Yeah, Ive tried that too, and it was only in sparring. Head too low... bang!!! Hello 13 stitches. Bye bye good looks :-(

Got bugger all sympathy at home too.

Felix wrote: is mark a big match fighter? perhaps. is paris a big match then? no. he's doesn't face elimination yet. is mark a five round fighter? not really but luckily neither is jerome. sorry lollo, this doesn't look like it is in marks favor. if anything is going to increase 300% it is his weight.

Felix, I didn't say Mark is favorite. I just said that there will be more pressure on Jerome. Sometimes pressure helps certain fighters and sometimes it doesn't. Jerome hasn't proved himself to be a good fighter under pressure so far. Mark has proved it 3 times in a row that he is a big match fighter. After he won the Oceania the first time, he wasn't dubbed as the favourite the next year but he won it easily. Than he went on to Japan and the rest is history.

However, before I didn't but now I'm convinced that Jerome can fight from the distance. I can see Jerome throws light fast jabs or combos than step back and draws Mark in, and hopefully intercept him with his famous right hook, short left combo. Why I think he might do that? Because during the past whenever he wanted to have a grudge match with Hoost, he always rushes in and got himself KOed again!! Why was he doing that? Is it because he wanted to badly KO a fighter who knocked him out in the past? No...because he knows that Hoost hasn't got the best chin in the game, beside that's the only way he's gonna beat Hoost as he is too clever. Jerome knows that Mark has one of the best chin in the business and he's not very explosive to a long distance due to his weight. I didn't mean to sound negative and I do hope that I'm wrong when I said it's going to be a boring fight, if Jerome decides to fight from the distance. Or worse, we could see a puncher tries to win the bout with kicks.

Felix comments on: "overnight stardom syndrom? that must be where all your friends convince you that as long as you are happy you can gain as much weight as you want. even on this board people said that his obesity was part of the winning combination."

Felix, I just wanna get out of the weight thing as it will cause this thread to go over and over the same weight thing (AGAIN!!!). Still, I didn't say that he is favourite to win against Jerome. What I can say is, he will be more focus and fitter than his last two outings. (Fat or lean!!)

Felix, I'm surprised the man of your caliber forget one common weapon which every champion fighter has. EGOS!!! In saying that, I don't think Jerome would deliberately threw the bout to Yasuda, just to fight Mark earlier? I give the man more credit than that. Mark doesn't need to be a rocket sciencetist to realise now that the party is over after losing to Crocop. It made sense that he didn't learn much from Nakasako's bout as he was still partying but still end up won the bout by KO.

This will be the first time Mark fights in Europe and I believe that Mark will be training very hard for this fight. As Lucy said, he has 10 weeks to train for it as well as soul searching. I just want to close by saying that I think both Mark and Jerome will be heavily pressured. If so, this will be going to Mark's favour in the ring. Why? because, if anything to go by their past performanced, Mark handles pressure better than Jerome can.

i know jerome has a huge ego but he also has priorities. what is more important, winning a fake-wrestling match or getting a shot at the guy who just cut down your money tree? i doubt his ego got in the way of that decision.

all in all, i believe this will be a pretty even match up. both fighters will be at their best.

I have a real funny story about Mark (It wasn't funny at the time though.LOL!) I was working at the corner at Mark when he fought Nathan Briggs. He took the fight at short noticed. At the beginning of the fight, Mark was getting hammered by Nathan, leg kicks, high kicks etc...as the fight goes, Mark started to fight better but the crowd cheering for Nathan as this was in Brisbane. All of a sudden Mark threw an elbow. Wow! Hell almost broke lose. Paul Briggs, Dave and their corner jumped in, we jumped in (Lucy and I LOL!) trying to sort things out. Lucky we know the Briggs and a lot of people there.

Mark said, when the crowd cheered for him, I wanted so bad to hurt him back and elbow feels right at the time as he had nothing left to throw at Nathan, since it was only short noticed...LOL! I said Mark, it's only you, Lucy, Petrina (one of my woman fighter) and I against about 1500 Queenslander yelling for your head. LOL! My point is, I doubt it that Mark is going to do anything silly like that again, but the more the crowd cheers for Jerome, Mark would reverse the pychology and use it to pump himself up more. I've seen it on video when he fought in Melbourne when they didn't think he was gonna win.

I think that Le Banner will win this one because he knows what he did wrong last time and it is his home turf i just think he has more weapons than mark go jeromeeeeeeeeeeee OSU!

mark cut watt with an elbow and was warned at least twice for hitting mirko with them. i hope you are right that he can control himself in the lebanner fight. i'd hate to see him become an ear biter one day.

i know we don't want to go through the weight thing again and again but allow me this observation. against mirko, mark's punches were coming up short when he lunged in. sefo, on the other hand, had no trouble whatsoever of getting in bernardo's face regardless of the distance.

i noticed a similar tread on the solak site. i hope international kickboxer can't get a wide enough variety of responses to get a good article.

just for laughs, i read on another board that someone thinks mirko will drop to 93kg and challenge silva for his pride belt. that's 9kgs of what? fat? for what? one fight? mirko may not be a member of mensa but he's probably smart enough to walk away from that offer.

Allthrough Mark will maybe come into ring prepared and focused Le Banner is not an idiot and for sure will use every bit of help and prep he can for this one. Remmember how Le Banner was getting Ko- ed before/2-3 years ago/ after that he did some training adjusted things and was on the roll beating everyone. I think it was the best thing that he got Ko-ed by Mark. Either he will come back as a new man/much stronger and focused with a game plan/ or it will be the old song. Too many pro Marks fans are basing everything on the result of a one fight. OK he did KO Le Banner but give me one fighter that was not down on the canvas in K-1. After that fight he did not show anything, he is relaying too much on his big hooks ,but fighters are not dummies they will adjust to his style and dismantle him with combos and smart moves. Just like Mirko showed us. To have a hook is simply not enough to be worlds no. 1. Allthrough I like Marks Cinderella story of getting the K-1 crown I do not believe he will last among the top top. He sure will be an interesting addition. But no.1, I doubt. I think Ignashov will give Mark major problems once the fight will take place.
Dynamo Slovakia Europe

LOL!s Lollo,just thinking about that fight Mark had with Nathan,it took Mark
a bit of time to get over that fight and that was why he wanted to get even with Nathan Briggs at K1 Oceania 2 he learn!t so much from that fight..Yep I thought we were gone after that elbow..he sure has come along way from that fight he got $600 for fighting Nathan Briggs that night.....
Lollo you are so right Mark likes been the under dog in a fight because he comes back much stronger.........
Mark Hunt Vs Lebanner 3 will be a good fight...
Regards
Lucy Tui

Felix...I've watch Mark against Watt, it wasn't an intentional elbow. I hope it will be a good fight. I hope the best man wins.

Here is a photo of myself with Mark and Jerome on differenct occasions.

The elbow that Mark threw at Nathan was a real copy book Thai elbow. Nathan was trying to tie Mark up when he broke lose and threw that elbow. I mean....the wrist and gloves was locked on his chest and looping down almost vertically. An almost perfect elbow but lucky it didn't find it's target. It only glanced on Nathan's head but it was enough to make the corners and supporters pissed. After that fight, Mark gave me some money from his fight purse, just for helping him at the corner. I said no, that's the reason why you took the fight at short noticed because you need the money more than I do. He is a good man and his heart is at the right place. Like Lucy said, Mark had come a long way in every way. It was really good to hear that he came back here to NZ and bought his mum a new house from his money from the Grand Prix.

Neat Photo!s Lollo...
Take care
Lucy

Hi Alan. I just want to thank you for wishing me good luck for my fight June last year. Luckily I won.
I had finished my studies. I came back to Malaysia already.

yeah. i didn't mean that mark is a dirty fighter, just that he gets frustrated.

this is going to be a good fight for both guys. both need to win for reasons of ego.

neither will be eliminated from the grand prix. that day will be in saitama.

just think. either of these two could be facing mirko for a place in december. or even sefo or bernardo.

Felix....me too. I hope it's gonna be a good fight. If Jerome keeps his distance and counter fights Mark from a distance using his reach advantage, he could win on points. If it turns out that way, it may not be a very exciting fight to watch. The only thing that would look worse than that is a puncher who tries to win the bout with high kicks..LOL!

I think that the fight will be very even, but because it will take place in France, my money is on Jerome.

I don’t believe that the fight will be won on points, one of the fighter will go down.....But who would it be?

My odds are saying 60% in favorite to Jerome and 40% to Mark Hunt. But at the end of the day, I just hope that the best man will win, and I am sure that it will be "the" fight of the year!

I think you may have two verry careful fighters so I would not go as far as to say it will be fight of the year but it will be interesting as I know you have a angry Jerome and a Mark who I think will certinly do some training after his last fight and should be in good condition maybe even a bit lighter, as for Jeromes home advantage I was at the press confrence on monday when he said "I would rather fight in japan" & I belive him because thats what he has been doing for the last 7 years or so & thats what he is use to.
Hope Mark does it as I hate the fluke word because it is never a fluke at this level its just on the night.

test

Hi Andrew,
Good to see you on the board.


Pic Andrew Peck V Ron Sefo

Hi Andrew,

How are you? hope you are still in good health & spirit..
When will your next fight be?
Adam Watt will be fighting in America in August would love to go and see that...
Mark will be getting ready for his fight against Jerome I am sure it will be a
good event..
Take care
Congradulations for making the final in K1 Oceania.
Best Regards
Lucy Tui

Hi Andrew and it's good to see you here.

Yeah Andrew, it's weird wanting to fight in Japan over his own hometown in France. I wonder why? I think fighters love fighting in Japan because I think the Japanese fans are more loyal to the fighters over in Japan than other country in the world. I've seen guys who lost the bout badly and still the fans mobbed him and want to take photographs with him. At the end, it helps lift the lost fighters spirit. I think that's one big plus why lots of fighters love fighting in Japan. I think NZ & Aussie are two of the worst places ever to lose a fight. LOL!

Lucy,
I am fine as for my next fight maybe in april.
Is Peter keen if so lets get it on at some stage and do you know if stan is still able to fight because I heard him say he dont think much of me and I dont know if those little legs are up to 5x3 with me.
Oh and lucy thanks for righting me off this year because thanks to felix I got to read what you wrote on feb 8 3rd to last really why didnt you have more faith in me as I have your NZ and South pacific super heavy weight titles
remember my speech after Nz k1 2000 lucy how quickly we forget.
Next year I will win I am sure of it just have a little faith.I must win!!!!
cool picture paul do you have any more if so I would love to see them.
Seido thanks for the support mate!!!

thats ok win or lose you are one of my favourite fighters can i contact you on your e mail

seido,
anytime mate.

Yes Andrew,
I'll have them all up very soon.
www.pcavka.com

A Peck vs Graham fight would be great to see.

Hi Andrew,
It was because of the last K1 Oceania 2001 Mark went through everyone and showed there weaknesses..
And now Mark is paying for his weakness in the K1 fights of recent...hehe..
Well Andrew I am sorry if you were offended of what I wrote ..... ...
Take care I will see what I can do in the next few months of what we talked about...

Regards
Lucy Tui

Hi Andrew! Having seen your K1 2000 performance (3 1st round KO's) I had you picked for the favourite at Oceania this year, and I was in the crowd at Melbourne cheering for ya. I thought you gave a great show, and showed real skill. Made it to the final which was a great effort, and I think you'll take it next year :)
You could always try what Pettas has done and join the K1 Japan.. seems a much easier path to the grand final thats for sure!

Hi Andrew,

How's it going over there? Good meeting you in Nagoya at the K1 hopefully
catch up with ya over here sometime.Good luck in those upcoming battles.

Danny/1 force gym.

Glen thanks dude,
and if Rony hadnt of broke my nose in the secound round I am sure I could have malled adam watt for 2 more rounds only 6mins and won the whole thing.
Dan
how are you bro, good meeting you to hows the gym
Lucy
not offended at all just pointing out your misjudgement!he he he

Oh yeah, I wouldnt want to go through japan I like cleaning my own back yard but moneywise it would pay a lot better I you dont want to know how little I got payed.
I do this sport out of love for the sport ha ha ha but its not really funny Tarik.

Hey Andrew
I am currently on the phone with Ron as we are cracking up at your comments. Ron says Hi and not to take his room over again (haha). Keep in touch bro and I did ask those questions for you in Tokyo, give us a call.

lollo i think you hit the nail on the head. lebanner is probably the most
popular k-1 fighter in japan, despite the fact that he is far from the most
successful. i recall at the 2001 g.p. final he got a bigger audience response
than hoost or aerts for instance. after the first round of hoost's fight vs
leko, instead of replaying a couple of highlights from the round, the camera
went to some girl hanging out outside of lebanners room whispering some
nonsense about him. lebanner can devastate the 2nd tier fighters during the
year, so the fans love him despite the fact that he always falls short in
the finals.

Hi every one, well I like the picture of Jerome holding the sword. When he was walking toward the ring against Mark in the Grand Prix I couldnt help myself but say to Mark lets take Conan's sword off him. lol
But we got arrested by the Cro Cop.

Goodone Haps....hehehe.....
Regards
Lucy Tui

LOL! Hi Hape.

Hi Lollo hows it going.

Hi Hape,
Man i'm still on a high!
give you a call soon.
GO-U-KAN

Hey that word is for guys like Ferri, Penni, L.C and yourself.

Hey Haps don't sxpose our codes now bro haha. Then again I suppose sky tv is worse

Is that the old street fighter uppercut call?