By Allan Fox: Welterweight prospect Blair Cobbs is looking to get a big fight after taking care of business against favorite Alexis Roach this Saturday night on March 19th at the USC Galen Center in Los Angeles. The fight card will be streamed on live DAZN.
Cobbs (15-0-1, 10 KOs) finds himself in the spotlight of the main event after Vergil Ortiz Jr. was forced to pull out of his main event fight against Michael McKinson due to an illness.
This is a fight where the 32-year-old Cobbs can introduce himself to many casual boxing fans that have never seen him before.
It’s not going to be easy for Cobbs to defeat the southpaw Rocha (18-0-1, 12 KOs) because he’s a solid fighter with a #10 ranking with the IBF at welterweight.
Cobbs recently got on IBF/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr’s wrong side by saying he’s afraid of Terence Crawford and an alcoholic.
It’s unclear whether Cobbs said this to clout chase to shock the boxing public to pay attention to him or if he wants Errol to get mad enough to where he’ll defend his two titles against him in a voluntary defense.
Cobbs is pushing for a big fight
“It’s a new era, it’s a new day, and it’s the Blair the flair way,” said Cobbs to Fighthype. “Look, it’s the truth. Everything I speak is the truth, and the truth is not going to deny the truth.
“It’s far much better to attack me than to say, ‘That’s not true,'” said Cobbs in reacting to Errol Spence Jr. dismissing him as a 33-year-old prospect.
“Let’s see what happens. I love to see people get tested, I love to see action, and I love to see drama because Blair the Flair is mint.
“People have to understand that you can come from zero to hero in moments. My background, my history, and what I have been through have been inspiring millions around the world already. I’m destined for greatness.
“So, he [Spence] can call me a 33-year-old prospect all he wants. It doesn’t hurt me none. I need to be put in a position to be at the top right now. Why not? What are we waiting for?
“I’m constantly fighting these people like Alexis Rocha, top contenders with high-risk low rewards. I want to see some more rewards now. It’s time for Blair The Flair to come out of the shadows.
“Blair The Flair already been in the fire multiple times. It’s time to see it pay off,” said Cobbs in appearing to be hinting for a world title shot.
Hopkins says Blair = “real deal”
“A lot of people really fell in love with Blair, and it’s not because he comes in with a vest most of the time. He’s got the Lenny Kravitz look,” said Bernard Hopkins of Golden Boy Promotions to Fighthype.
“Blair is a guy that comes in to fight, and he’s not ducking anyone in that weight class. I think people see that. They know promotion, they know talk. Fans are smart, they know. So, they know when a person is a real deal, and Blair Cobbs is the real deal.
“He gets the chance to make true to come to fruition is that he becomes the main event on a default of a sickness and taking care of our guy [Vergil Ortiz Jr] and that’s all-important.
“Not even a default. He came in because of the situation. Now, Blair gets the chance that he always wanted to do. Perform as you hear him, and also fight in a main event card. Everything is lined up for him.
“All he has to do is follow the path of his manager and Golden Boy Promotions. His job is to keep winning and make it easy on all of us.
“I think it puts him in line because he got elevated up,” said Hopkins when asked if a win over Rocha puts Cobbs in position to fight one of the big names in the division in his next fight.
“No matter what, his momentum and what he’s been doing in the last, in spite of Covid, he still stayed in the public’s eyes in a positive way and let the people hear his voice, knowing that he has to back it up each time he steps in that square circle.
“You’re only as good as your last fight. There’s more to come that you don’t know yet,” Bernard said.
It’s going to take more than a victory for Cobbs over Rocha for him to be recognized as the real deal in the eyes of fans. After all, Rochas was easily beaten by Rashidi Ellis by a 12 round unanimous decision two years ago in 2020.
Bernard picks Spence over Ugas
“He takes him apart systematically and makes the fight look easy,” said Hopkins when asked about his view of Errol Spence Jr’s fight against Yordenis Ugas on April 16th.
“He’s really that talented, especially with that type of style of what he has in front of him. He’s going to take care of him, and he’s going to take care of him systematically,” said Hopkins in predicting a clinical victory for Errol.
“I’d like to see him fight anybody at the top,” said Hopkins in wanting to see Spence fight someone at the top after his fight with Ugas. “Look at the division. Take on another champion.
“We can take care of this really easy. Drama is part of hyping things up. Unification is what I always stood for. So unifications for these champions in all the divisions is something I may not live to see, but hopefully, I will be the best thing for everybody.
“Now, you’ll know who’s who. The second guy that comes in as undisputed or champion of being undisputed behind undisputed, they would always have a goal to reach. You don’t really get it until you get all the belts,” said Hopkins.
Spence has got the youth, power, size, and work rate to defeat the 35-year-old Ugas. For Spence to lose, he would have to be really off, or his surgically repaired torn retina would need to be acting up.
