ISKA Hall of Fame
ISKA is extremely pleased to announce that Jérôme “Geronimo” Le Banner will be the first inductee into the ISKA Modern Hall of Fame as part of our inaugural class of, “LEGENDARY CHAMPIONS”. He will be honored on February 8th at Paris’s prestigious Grand Palais Ephémère, in front of the iconic Eiffel Tower and in front of what will be a full house of very appreciative French Kickboxing fans. The presentation will be part of the ISKA Multi-World Title Gala viewed live on RMC Sports.
Jérôme Le Banner was born in the French city of Le Havre, in the région of Normandy and began training in judo at the age of five. When he was fourteen, Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury influenced him so much that he became interested in striking instead and started trying to incorporate the techniques of Jeet Kune Do he had seen in the film. At sixteen, he started practicing Kyokushin Karate. But it was Jeet Kune Do that gave him the southpaw stance which he maintained throughout his career, even though he is right-handed. He eventually took up Muay Thai at the age of 18 and then debuted in his first full contact kickboxing competitions. By 19 he held the ISKA French title and soon after that, he won the European belt against Andy Mayo, and the Intercontinental belt in South Africa against Mike Bernardo.
Geronimo’s legendary career accomplishments include three different ISKA Super Heavyweight World Titles and two consecutive K-1 World Grand Prix Championships. His path included notable victories over Ernesto Hoost (twice), Francisco Filho, Mark Hunt (three times), Sam Greco, Mike Bernardo (twice), Peter Aerts, Rick Roufus, Remy Bonjasky, Tyrone Spong, Stefan Leko (twice), Masaaki Satake, Maurice Smith, Gary Goodridge (twice), Musashi (twice), Cyril Abidi and Choi Hong-man (twice). He earned two consecutive K-1 World Grand Prix Championships.
It is with great pride that we honor Jérôme “Geronimo” Le Banner and welcome him as the first member of the inaugural class of LEGENDARY CHAMPIONS into the ISKA Modern Hall of Fame.
