Blair Cobbs came into his boxing contest with Alexis Rocha with bravado and fury but walked away defeated for a reason. Hereās 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.
CobbsĀ (15-1-1, 10 KOs) has boxing talent, but it never matched the hype coming from his lips. Heās 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. Heās a professional at selling himself and tickets, which is something that not all fighters can do.
However, having personality and pizazz isnāt a substitute for boxing skills.
Days before his bout with Rocha, Cobbs released a social media video displaying his Blair āThe Flairā persona, which is a take on Ric Flairās wrestling character. The problem with alter egos is that they sometimes hijack a personās identity.
Flair is a sad, broken 73-year-old man whoās on his fifth divorce because he allowed his in-ringĀ schtick to take over his life.
Cobbs is only 32 years old and is nowhere near that point, and, hopefully, he doesnāt 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.
āLetās get this work, baby because Iām going to f**k you up,ā Cobbs said.
Solid attempt trying to get a higher profile fight, but maybe he was trying to avoid his current opponent, Rocha.
McKinson didnāt 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.
āDoes Blair the Flair look like he gives a shit⦠I donāt think so,ā Cobbs said of Rocha at a prefight press conference. āI actually wanted that fight in November, but we couldnāt make it happen.ā
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 couldnāt save him from being demolished by Rocha.
In defeat, Cobbs was mainly humble.
Blair Cobbs couldnāt back up his talk after getting stopped by Alexis Rocha in round 9
āI was impressed by the way he came out,ā Cobbs said in the post-fight interview. āHe got me with some pretty good shots. He got me in the later rounds very good, so shout-out to him and his team.ā
Yet, āThe Flairā still popped up.
āI just wanted to give a shout-out to everyone that came out, and I promise that Blair āThe Flairā is coming back, baby. Whoo!ā 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 thatās okay.
Not every fighter can become a champion. Itās a rare achievement that only the most gifted combatants can attain.
Cobbs speaks like he believes heās an A+ fighter when heās more like a B-. Maybe thatās part of his act.
But if heās allowing his ego to overtake his commonsense, heās only conning himself.
In reality, the true story behind Cobbs is much more fascinating than the flamboyant jokester he plays on T.V.
CobbsāĀ 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 Boyās website, his troubled father gained custody of Cobbs and ran with him to Guadalajara, Mexico, as a fugitive. Thatās where he walked into a boxing gym for the first time.
If Cobbs hasnāt 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 lifeās journey, Cobbs was on his own.
Considering that, itās 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.
Cobbsā 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 āwinā a world title.
But itās 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.
Thatās the stuff heroes are made of, yet heās 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.
Itās hard to root for the villain hurling insults, but itās 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.
Heās in there. Maybe a loss will help introduce him.