An Inside Look at Pat Bennett vs. Kenny ‘Deuce’ Garner, 2010 M-1 Selection Americas Touranment Finals Rematch‏; LIVE on SHOWTIME on Friday, July 8

Standing under the headline bout spotlights at M-1 Challenge XXVI opposite decorated American wrestler, Pat Bennett, is none other than self-marketing machine, Kenny ‘Deuce’ Garner; with Garner getting the best of Bennett nearly a year ago in their M-1 Selection Americas tournament final, the New Jersey native and Team Bombsquad fighter will need to deliver a career performance to stop the heavy-striking freight train headed directly in his path. The action goes down from The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California, LIVE on SHOWTIME on Friday, July 8 at 11 p.m. ET/PT (Delayed on the West Coast).


As a key member of the Team Bombsquad contingent, Bennett’s manager, Ryan Ciotoli, has nothing but praise for the heavyweight’s performances to date. “Pat’s a three time All-American wrestler, so he possesses a great base and he’s an electrifying striker; hence the reason for his five first round wins. I definitely consider Bennett to be the top contender in the heavyweight division.”

Love to hate him or hate to love him, the Port St. Lucie, Florida and American Top Team fighter, Kenny Garner is making a name for himself in the State of Florida, who has him ranked as the #9 heavyweight. With an affliction for the camera, Garner is surprising fans, media and executives at every turn and his ‘in your face’ personality has critics split between whether he’s the ‘real deal’ or just flash in the pan; but his convincing wins – with two having him marked as a huge underdog – the Deuce is proving to be a force to reckon with.

Both men declare they are not the same fighters who entered the ring to faceoff in September but what’s improved their games and how do these men actually stack up against each other?

Bennett states it’s his striking that’s drastically improved since last facing Garner; “I’ve really focussed on my stand up. I’ve worked on improving this aspect to round out my skillset. I’m not the same fighter Kenny is expecting to see. I’ve wanted to fight him again ever since last year and I can GUARANTEE a much different result this time out.”

Conversely, Garner doesn’t seem to care what his opponent as improved; “I will end this fight faster than the last time I beat him, trust me. I’m stronger, faster and more technical. There’s no way he’s stopping my striking. He’s not making it out the first round. Pat’s got no chance.” Garner last faced Bennett in the 2010 M-1 Selection Americas tournament finals and won a convincing first-round TKO; clearly Deuce feels he’ll produce the same results this time out.

Prior to starting the 2010 Selections tournament, Garner’s manager, UFC veteran, Din Thomas, didn’t hold back when discussing his two early losses; “He took a couple bad fights on short notice and when you take a fight without preparation – as a heavyweight – you pay the price.” Garner’s losses came at the hands of Chris Barnett and Tony Johnson Jr; both by way of TKO in the late rounds which may have been attributed to questionable conditioning according to Thomas. In comparison, Deuce has shown exceptional performances when prepared as all six of victories have been total dominations.

Garner opened the Heavyweight brackets of the Selections tournament with a dominating victory over Matt Hopkins; from here, Garner was next slated to fight the imposing Russian favourite, Andre Kapilou, in a semi finals bout he fighter wasn’t even given a ‘fighter’s chance’ of winning and put on a grappling clinic to win a hard-fought decision.

In the Finals, Garner neutralized Bennett’s wrestling skills, stuffed every takedown and put Bennett in a world of hurt, winning via TKO in the opening frame and proving why he should be considered one of the most-feared strikers in M-1’s heavyweight division.

Bennett has his work cut out for him on July 8th. Sporting an established 7-2 combined amateur and professional record heavily weighted in the ‘win’ column with five first-round TKO’s, Bennett is aptly known for his proud wrestling pedigree but has also proven to be a multidimensional fighter able to transition his skills to whatever is set in front of him.


Bennett had recently set his wrestling on the back burner in favour of striking throughout his 2010 M-1 Selection Americas tournament run, displaying a wide array of talents. Opening up the brackets against Nick Smiley, the mild-mannered monster needed a total of 37 seconds to destroy Smiley by TKO. His semi-final bout was a marathon war with Mehdi Hassan where he earned a unanimous decision victory. But the run was halted in the finals by Garner’s lead left hook.

At 6’ 3”, 240 pounds, Bennett has the heavy hands to match Garner’s striking prowess but his advantage comes on the canvass, IF he can secure the takedown. He’ll need to push the pace as he sees fit while being cautiously aware of Garner’s lethal bombs. If Bennett can’t take this fight to the mat, he’s going to wish he had head gear as Garner will look to implant his right hand in Bennett’s face.

Garner has shown time and time again that his defense is steadfast and should Bennett score the single or double-leg, he is well versed in submissions and fight effectively off his back or in top position. Garner’s plan is without a doubt to keep this fight standing and dismantle Bennett from his feet; he’s done it before and knows he can do it again.

This headline bout carries serious implications in both men’s quest for the M-1 Heavyweight strap.

EL Boxing Empress See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved

Deuce is Loose at M-1 Challenge XXVI Kenny Garner: “I will end this fight faster than the last time I beat him, trust me.”

The relentless self-marketing machine, Kenny ‘Deuce’ Garner (6-3), returns to action inside the confines of M-1 Global’s five-rope ring, stepping in to replace the injured M-1 Global Heavyweight Champion, Guram Gugenishvili. Garner faces decorated wrestler, Pat Bennett (4-2) at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California on Friday, July 8 and the action can be caught LIVE on SHOWTIME starting at 11 p.m. ET/PT (Delayed on the West Coast).

Garner last faced Bennett in the 2010 M-1 Selection Americas tournament finals, where he won a convincing first-round TKO and feels he’ll produce the same results this time out, ‘I will end this fight faster than the last time I beat him, trust me. There is no chance on God’s green earth that Pat will stop my striking. NOBODY makes it out of the first round with Deuce – PERIOD! NOBODY!

Talk is cheap in the fight game – unless you back it up. Garner has been doing just that with his one-punch power which is why his record boasts four knockout wins. Hidden behind the heavy leather is also a potent submission arsenal and solid wrestling base which makes this rematch a potentially explosive outing for both men but Garner feels extremely confident; “Pat and I are similar but I’m stronger, faster and more technical. Pat’s got no chance.”

Love to hate him or hate to love him, the Port St. Lucie, Florida and American Top Team fighter is making a name for himself in the State of Florida, who has him ranked as the #9 heavyweight. With an affliction for the camera, Garner is surprising fans, media and executives at every turn and his ‘in your face’ personality has critics split between whether he’s the ‘real deal’ or just flash in the pan; but his convincing wins – with two having him marked as a huge underdog – the Deuce is proving to be a force to reckon with.

Prior to starting the Selections tournament, Garner’s manager, UFC veteran, Din Thomas, didn’t hold back when discussing his two early losses; “He took a couple bad fights on short notice and when you take a fight without preparation – as a heavyweight – you pay the price.” Garner’s losses came at the hands of Chris Barnett and Tony Johnson Jr; both by way of TKO in the late rounds which may have been attributed to questionable conditioning according to Thomas. In comparison, “Deuce” has shown exceptional performances when prepared as all six of victories have been total dominations.

Garner opened the Heavyweight brackets of the Selections tournament with a dominating victory over Matt Hopkins; from here, Garner was next slated to fight the imposing Russian favourite, Andre Kapilou, in a semi finals bout he fighter wasn’t even given a ‘fighter’s chance’ of winning.

In the co-main event of the Semi Finals card, Garner shocked the crowd with a three-round war that neutralized Kapilou’s extensive reach and stand-up abilities. In a total reversal of predictions in front of Kapilou’s home-town crowd, Garner slid past his opponent’s striking damage-free to secure effortless take downs where the Russian’s weakness on the canvass became exposed. Without having an answer to Garner’s G&P and submissions other than a relentless will to survive, Kapilou endured the most painful 15 minutes of his fighting career with his face taking the brunt of the assault. Garner proved to doubters that he is not the one-dimensional fighter he was thought to be as he worked through three rounds to secure the unanimous decision nod from the judges.

Even with the win, Garner still wasn’t given the credibility he deserved heading into the Finals where he had another seemingly insurmountable task ahead of him: stop Pat Bennett and his proud wrestling pedigree. Not only did Garner neutralize the wrestling skills of Bennett by stuffing every takedown, he confirmed to fans why he should be considered one of the most-feared strikers in M-1’s heavyweight division.

After a brief exchange in the clinch, Garner revealed a lead hook that couldn’t miss; he caught Bennett, then caught him again and caught him again. Bennett had no answer to the game that was being forced upon him as blow after blow crumbled his confidence and left him stumbling and disoriented. In an effort to fight back, Bennett reached for the single leg, got stuffed and ate a combination that sent him rubber-legging across the canvass and into the ropes. Although refusing to fall – possibly because Deuce was holding him up so he could feed a second and third helping of heavy leather to Bennett’s face – Bennett was clearly unable to intelligently defend himself leaving referee ‘Big Dan’ Miragliotta with no choice but to stop the bout at 2:31 of the very first round, giving Garner and his precision striking the TKO victory.

With this win, Kenny Garner rounded out the five M-1 Selection 2010 Americas champions and was the first US fighter to be given the opportunity to fight for the M-1 Challenge championship belt in the headline bout at M-1 Challenge XXI against Guram Gugenishvili this past October in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In an eventful first round, Garner came out of the corner looking to press the action and stuffing Guram’s early takedown attempts. After being re-started when the pair broke through the ropes, Guram worked through an array of submission attempts and a wicked neck crank. Fighting from his back, Garner absorbed a left from up high which opened a gash dangerously close to his right eye, causing the referee to stall for a quick inspection by the ringside physician who gave the bout the green-light to continue. From here out, Garner worked bottom and top positions as he controlled the rest of the frame with the judges’ scorecards giving him a 10-9 round.

The tide only took 54 seconds to change as Guram dodged a looping right hand to start the second and caught the American in a head-and-arm choke; the pair then shuffled into the red corner where Guram locked in the standing guillotine and choked Garner unconscious forcing the referee to halt the bout.

Eager to mount another Cinderella run through the list of heavyweight contenders on route to a second shot at the M-1 Challenge heavyweight championship, Garner jumped at the chance to fight Bennett; “I’ll fight anyone, anytime for M-1 GLOBAL,” said Garner. “I’ve got to do better than what I’ve done before and this is my opportunity to chase down my belt! I’ve been training hard and I’m not losing to Pat Bennett.”

As the headline fight on July 8th, expect a war.EL Boxing Empress See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/Keishamorrisey ©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 All photos other than specified by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, KCKMT for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved

No Holds Barred: Keisha Morrisey and Bob Carson Critique Strikeforce
and HBO Boxing, and Analyze Shine Fights Cancellation

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman had a late
night discussion with two of our correspondents, Keisha Morrisey
(http://www.bloodlineboxing.blogspot.com) and Bob Carson (http://
carsonscorner.podomatic.com), about the fight festivities from
Saturday night, May 15. Right after these shows concluded, we spoke
about the Strikeforce card from St. Louis shown on Showtime, the HBO
boxing card from New York headlined by the Amir Khan-Paulie Malignaggi
fight, and the cancellation of the Shine Fights mixed martial arts
card which was supposed to feature former champion boxer Ricardo
Mayorga against mixed martial arts veteran Din Thomas.

Who is chiefly to blame for the cancellation of the Shine Fights card
following an injunction granted to Don King against this card because
of a claim that his company has exclusive rights to promote the fights
of Mayorga? Which card was better between the Strikeforce-Showtime
card and the HBO boxing card? Will Strikeforce heavyweight champion
Alistair Overeem, who stopped Brett Rogers in the first round of their
fight Saturday, ever fight top heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko? Should
fighters in mixed martial arts and boxing insist on drug testing based
on the protocols of the World Anti-Doping Agency? What do we think of
the various athletic commissions, which use different tests if any at
all? Are fighters with steroid-laden bodies effective or even sexy?
What is next for Strikeforce? How impressive was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
great Roger Gracie, who submitted Kevin Randleman in the second round
of their fight with a rear naked choke, in his Strikeforce and
American debut? Why is the promotion of boxing to the public so awful?

These and other key questions are answered in our discussion, which is
almost like hanging out after the fights and chatting with our trio of
combat sports aficionados.

You can play or download No Holds Barred at
http://nhbnews.podOmatic.com/entry/2010-05-16T03_38_28-07_00.

See you at the Fights.
Thank You for your time.

EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/KeishamorriseyEL Boxing Empress;

Keisha Morrisey's Myspace http://www.myspace.com/Keishadivine

Honorable Keisha Morrisey http://www.keishamorrisey.com

©®™ 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 All photos by "EL Boxing Empress" Keisha Morrisey- Empire Morrisey Photo-Studios, Khris Kirkpatrick for Bloodline Boxing Communications Entertainment and Starlite Boxing's Sweetscience Magnews-Online Publication all rights reserved