After the fight: Why boxer Blair Cobbs finally flared out

Blair Cobbs came into his boxing contest with Alexis Rocha with bravado and fury but walked away defeated for a reason. Here’s why.

Before his March 19 contest, boxer Blair Cobbs had crass words for Michael McKinson, but reality came crashing down on Cobbs in the form of battering blows from Alexis Rocha, resulting in a round 9 TKO loss.

Cobbs (15-1-1, 10 KOs) has boxing talent, but it never matched the hype coming from his lips. He’s entertaining and athletic but could never live up to his self-proclaimed hype.

Cobbs is physically gifted and tough. He possesses a dynamic personality and is a character. He’s a professional at selling himself and tickets, which is something that not all fighters can do.

However, having personality and pizazz isn’t a substitute for boxing skills.

Days before his bout with Rocha, Cobbs released a social media video displaying his Blair ‘The Flair’ persona, which is a take on Ric Flair’s wrestling character. The problem with alter egos is that they sometimes hijack a person’s identity.

Flair is a sad, broken 73-year-old man who’s on his fifth divorce because he allowed his in-ring schtick to take over his life.

Cobbs is only 32 years old and is nowhere near that point, and, hopefully, he doesn’t admire Flair too much.

In his pre-fight social media post, Cobbs berated fellow welterweight Michael McKinson after his previously scheduled opponent Virgil Ortiz pulled out of their fight due to injury. McKinson needed a new opponent, and Cobbs tried to nab the spotlight.

“Let’s get this work, baby because I’m going to f**k you up,” Cobbs said.

Solid attempt trying to get a higher profile fight, but maybe he was trying to avoid his current opponent, Rocha.

McKinson didn’t bite, but Rocha vs. Cobbs became the main event. Cobbs got the spotlight, but his performance fell flat.

Before the fight, Cobbs was the picture of confidence.

“Does Blair the Flair look like he gives a shit… I don’t think so,” Cobbs said of Rocha at a prefight press conference. “I actually wanted that fight in November, but we couldn’t make it happen.”

Rocha ran through Cobbs for the majority of their nine rounds together. He dropped Cobbs in round 8 from a right uppercut and finished him with a flurry in round 9, resulting in a TKO victory for Rocha.

All of Cobbs barking couldn’t save him from being demolished by Rocha.

In defeat, Cobbs was mainly humble.

Blair Cobbs couldn’t back up his talk after getting stopped by Alexis Rocha in round 9

“I was impressed by the way he came out,” Cobbs said in the post-fight interview. “He got me with some pretty good shots. He got me in the later rounds very good, so shout-out to him and his team.”

Yet, ‘The Flair’ still popped up.

“I just wanted to give a shout-out to everyone that came out, and I promise that Blair ‘The Flair’ is coming back, baby. Whoo!” Cobbs shouted to the Galen Center audience.

Cobbs will probably return the ring, as he should, but he likely will never be a world boxing champion, and that’s okay.

Not every fighter can become a champion. It’s a rare achievement that only the most gifted combatants can attain.

Cobbs speaks like he believes he’s an A+ fighter when he’s more like a B-. Maybe that’s part of his act.

But if he’s allowing his ego to overtake his commonsense, he’s only conning himself.

In reality, the true story behind Cobbs is much more fascinating than the flamboyant jokester he plays on T.V.

Cobbs’ Golden Boy biography reads like a cinematic tragedy. Sadly, he lost his mother at 11 and later his grandmother, who became his guardian.

According to Golden Boy’s website, his troubled father gained custody of Cobbs and ran with him to Guadalajara, Mexico, as a fugitive. That’s where he walked into a boxing gym for the first time.

If Cobbs hasn’t sold the movie rights to his life story yet, he needs to work on that immediately.

Cobbs started boxing relatively late and lacked a substantial amateur career and early guidance. Like most of his life’s journey, Cobbs was on his own.

Considering that, it’s remarkable that Cobbs has made it this far as a boxer. He should be commended for his success.

However, he took his boxing career to the limit, and his performance against Rocha proves that.

Cobbs’ antics outside of the ring raised his profile and helped propel him to where he is, but they also made him a clownish caricature.

Maybe Cobbs can use his facade in wrestling someday. Sports entertainment is a realm in which he could ‘win’ a world title.

But it’s not going to happen in boxing. Cobbs is too old to learn the new tricks he needs to evolve as a boxer.

Instead of his attention-seeking loudmouth displays, Cobbs might be surprised by how many people gravitate to the real Cobbs. He overcame tremendous life obstacles with an internal resilience that few possess.

That’s the stuff heroes are made of, yet he’s playing the sideshow game. He should drop the act and embrace being the modest and self-reflective person he briefly flashed in his post-fight interview.

It’s hard to root for the villain hurling insults, but it’s easy to pull for a person that beat the odds that life stacked against them.

In short, Cobbs should stop trying to be Ric Flair and show the world, Blair. He seems like the kind of guy people naturally love and is twice the human Flair will ever be.

He’s in there. Maybe a loss will help introduce him.