Cobbs Dominates Broner, Inactivity Kills

The second step for former four-division world champion Adrien Broner on his comeback following the beginning of a new chapter of his career under the promotional banner of Hall of Fame promoter Don King came on June 7th at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL. Unlike the first step in this phase of his career when he dominated a very “Game," but out classed Bill Hutchinson in June of last year in winning a ten round unanimous decision, step two, which took place nearly one year to the day of that fight, would come against a serious threat in the form of Blair Cobbs.

Cobbs, a Welterweight who himself recently signed with King looking to continue to bounce back from his lone career setback in March 2022, represented not only a legitimate threat and test for Broner in his second flight in three years from a stylistic standpoint, but also a fighter who has been considerably more active than him and his previous opponent, the unknown Hutchinson.

In previewing this bout, this observer stated that it would depend on which version of Adrien Broner showed up. Whether it would be a contest of Broner’s mix of hand speed, punching power, and superb defense against the quick hands and punching power of Cobbs, or if it would be the Broner that stayed in his defensive shell and sparingly let his hands go.

Cobbs immediately established not only the ebb and flow of the fight by establishing a high pace, but also showed that he had the quicker hands of the two fighters, attacking Broner at various angles, and often throwing crisp combinations. This immediately put Broner in his defensive shell, where he was only willing to throw one punch at a time. 

In the second round, Cobbs nearly shocked everyone when he dropped Broner with a perfectly timed counter left hook to the head that knocked out one of Broner’s teeth and sent him down hard on the canvas.Despite not being the first time he had been knocked down in his career, this was a rare time where Broner appeared legitimately hurt and was nearly counted out as he attempted to get his mouthpiece of the canvas while struggling to get to his feet. Broner was able to beat the count and survived the follow-up barrage to get out of the round. 

Though a testament to both his experience and the caliber of fighter he was at his best to survive a scenario that could have ended the fight, the pattern of the fight had been established and it was something that Broner was unable to change in his favor. A pattern that consisted of Broner coming forward seemingly trying to apply pressure on Cobbs, but throwing one punch at a time, which allowed Cobbs to throw short combinations and remain a moving target.

Although Broner would finally begin to open up more with offense in the later rounds of the scheduled ten round bout it would prove to be too little and too late as Cobbs would go on to win a convincing ten round unanimous decision. With the exception of the knockdown in round two, there was not much to say about this fight beyond one fighter out working and dominating the other over the course of ten rounds. 

While the fight was one-sided, it did serve to underscore what is becoming a theme of not just of the coverage provided by yours truly, but in the entire sport. The subject of how inactivity often leads to decline of fighters, which ultimately negatively impacts their careers. It was after all only a few days ago at the time this column is released to readers, that I released a column discussing the recent knockout loss suffered by Deontay Wilder at the hands of Zhilei Zhang in Saudi Arabia on June 1st where much of it centered on the subject of inactivity being essentially a silent killer of a fighter’s ability and ultimately leads to the downfall of their careers.

The commonality between Deontay Wilder and Adrien Broner is each were long aligned with the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) group of promoters and both went through lengthy stretches of inactivity before eventually breaking away from the PBC to try and resume their careers under different promotional banners. Essentially, both fighters are now in the same position where the question is the same. Should both men fight on or retire? 

Whether one  read or wishes to read that column where I shared my thoughts on Wilder’s situation, I will say again, this observer is not in the business of telling a fighter what they should do as to whether to continue on in their careers as one who's job is to objectively cover the sport.  The situations of these two fighters are examples of a bigger issue in the sport that will not likely be easily solved because though the commonality in this case was the inability of a struggling promotional entity to ensure they had the opportunity to compete on a regular basis, each fighter's circumstances will obviously be different. 

In Broner's case, not only did he have a very public split from the PBC, but he has also had difficulty resuming his career on a consistent basis since parting ways. First, there was the signing of a multi-fight deal with digital streaming network BLK Prime, a new player in Boxing promotion that scheduled a fight for him to take place in Atlanta, GA, only for his scheduled opponent Michael Williams Jr. to suffer a broken jaw while in training for the fight. Ultimately, the failure to get that fight in the ring or to find a suitable replacement led to the parting of ways between Broner and BLK Prime.

Although things appeared to be looking up for Broner after signing with Don King following his victory over Hutchinson, Broner, who was originally supposed to fight back in February, suffered a rib injury which forced him to be sidelined until he fought Cobbs. Complicating circumstances further, something that was not covered by yours truly in the lead up to this fight, which was a case of human error on my part is the fact that Broner split from his longtime trainer Kevin Cunningham while in training for the fight with Cobbs leading him to link up with trainer Calvin Ford with limited time to prepare.  The aforementioned circumstances prior to this fight for Broner are not excuses, but one might question the wisdom in not pushing this fight back further after a split between fighter and trainer in the midst of training camp. It would not appear to be a wise decision viewing things from the outside looking in. If one were to also factor into the equation the ramblings of Broner having a difficult weight cut to get down to the 147lb. Welterweight limit, it also paints a picture of a fighter that at minimum was under prepared for the task at hand. 

Whatever the case might be, much like Deontay Wilder, if Adrien Broner wants to fight on, he needs to find what has been missing and needs to show a commitment to fighting on a regular basis, regardless of the caliber of opposition. The point needs to be stressed, a fighter who is active will give themselves the best chance to succeed as compared to sporadic activity or lengthy stretches of no activity in active competition for years at a time. Inactivity more often than not kills a fighter's ability and that eventually leads to the decline and end of a fighter's career.

“And That's The Boxing Truth.

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Broner-Cobbs Preview

The recent career of former four-division world champion Adrien Broner is one that is going through a new beginning. A beginning that began with his signing with Hall of Fame promoter Don King after a highly publicized split with the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) group of promoters and manager Al Haymon last year, which led to his return to the ring in June of last year with a ten round unanimous decision over Bill Hutchinson. Some might recall in this observer’s coverage of that fight, I stated that the most important thing for Broner would be to stay active if he were to re-emerge among the top contenders if he hoped to get another opportunity at a world championship. Unfortunately for Broner, an injury suffered in training delayed what would have been a relatively quick return earlier this year. Now healed, Broner will return to action on June 7th as he will face Blair Cobbs at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL. A fight that can be seen on combat sports streaming and pay-per-view platform Triller TV (Formerly FITE) on a pay-per-view basis. 

Although Bill Hiutchinson put forth a very “Game” performance against Broner in taking him a full ten round distance, it was a case where Hutchinson, who entered the bout having won twenty of his twenty-six professional bouts, with two losses and four draws, was taking a significant step up in caliber of opposition, despite Broner having been out of action for over two years at the time of the bout. While it was expected by some, simply based on the difference in caliber of opposition and overall experience for Broner to win that fight, some might be critical simply because he was unable to finish Hutchinson, who he had in trouble periodically throughout the fight.

This time around, Broner will be facing Blair Cobbs, who has flirted with becoming a top contender in the 147lb. Welterweight division. Cobbs, who will enter the fight with a record of 16-1-1, 10 Knockouts, is coming off of a ten round unanimous decision over former IBF Jr. Welterweight world champion Maurice Hooker in August of last year. The victory for Cobbs not only was a bounce back win for him off of the first defeat of his career, a ninth round knockout loss at the hands of Alexis Roacha in March 2022, but also signaled the end of his relationship with his previous promoter Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. Now with Don King as his promoter, Cobbs is looking to take his career to the next level and the first step in that process will come against Broner.

Cobbs has very quick hands and it will be interesting to see how his hand speed matches up against Broner’s superb defense. The question coming into this fight, much like it was for his fight against Bill Hutchinson last year, will center on what version of Adrien Broner shows up. Broner also has hand speed and punching power when he wants to let his hands go. Although Broner is known as one of the most accurate fighters in the sport in terms of landing his punches, he does have a habit of staying in a defensive shell for lengthy periods of time, which has allowed opponents to gradually outwork him over the course of a fight. Cobbs does have the ability to throw punches in volumes of combinations and it will be interesting to see if the fight plan for him will indeed be to try to keep Broner on the defensive and unable to get his punches off. Although both men are thirty-four years of age, Cobbs does have an advantage in terms of overall activity in recent years. Where Cobbs lacks is in the area of experience and more specifically, experience against top-level opposition. This however, is a different circumstance as compared to Bill Hutchinson, who was completely unknown at the time he fought Broner and Cobbs is a more offensive-minded fighter than Hutchinson proved to be, so it will be interesting to see if Cobbs provides Broner with a test to see how much he has left at this stage in his career.

Recent undisputed world champion Terence Crawford appears to be moving out of the Welterweight division and up to the 154lb. Jr. Middleweight division, there will be room to maneuver among the various contenders and former world champions looking to fight for a Welterweight world championship as the various world titles that Crawford held become vacant. This fight between Adrien Broner and Blair Cobbs will not determine who the next potential champion might be, but what it might determine is who might have the opportunity to move into the discussion of potential contenders looking for a world title fight in the near future. It is thus a high stakes bout for both fighters as each looks to take a step forward in their careers.

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”  

Broner vs. Cobbs takes place on Friday, June 7th at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL. The fight as well as it's undercard can be seen globally on digital combat sports network and pay-per-view platform Triller TV (Formerly FITE) on a pay-per-view basis for $39.99 beginning at 8PM ET/5PM PT.

Triller TV is available on mobile, tablet, and connected streaming devices and Smart TVs. For more information about Triller TV including schedules, list of compatible streaming devices, platforms, Smart TVs, and for information on how to download the Triller TV app please visit www.TrillerTV.com. To order this pay-per-view event download the Triller TV app or click here.

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Thoughts On Berlanga-Rolls And Cobbs-Rocha

The evening of Saturday, March 19th in the world of Boxing was highlighted by two bouts in two different locations that arguably featured the same storyline. Two rising prospects in separate weight classes each facing their toughest opponents to date in their respective careers. Undefeated Super-Middleweight prospect Edgar Berlanga headlined a Boxing card at the Theater in Madison Square Garden where he faced Middleweight contender Steve Rolls in a scheduled ten round bout. For the twenty-four year old New York native Berlanga, a fighter who has quickly developed into one of the sport’s hottest prospects due to beginning his career with sixteen consecutive knockouts, this represented not only on paper what would be his toughest test, but also a significant step up in caliber of opposition against a fighter in Steve Rolls who had only lost one time previously in his career and that loss came at the hands of “Knockout Artist” Gennady Golovkin during the brief period of time where Golovkin was between two reigns atop the Middleweight division.  

 

Although Rolls would be stopped by Golovkin in the fourth round of their encounter in June 2019, he did give a good account of himself and was out Boxing Golovkin prior to the time where he was caught and subsequently stopped. In this case, the thirty-seven year old Rolls, a former United States Boxing Association (USBA) Middleweight champion, had a significant experience edge over Berlanga and one could say, despite Berlanga’s track record of scoring quick and often devastating knockouts, he is still a work in progress and not yet on the level of Golovkin, who was a former longtime world champion at the time when Rolls fought him.    

 

Despite a scenario that amounted to what is referred to as a home team advantage in team sports in favor of Berlanga as the crowd in attendance was heavily in his favor, Rolls succeeded in finding a way to take the atmosphere of the crowd out of the fight almost immediately. He did this by implementing a tactical strategy that had an emphasis on lateral movement, giving angles, and looking to take advantage of openings that the younger Berlanga might give him. What should also not be overlooked in terms of Rolls’ approach was the use of a consistent jab that varied in both the force in which it was thrown as well as how he would mix levels by jabbing to the head and body of Berlanga. 

 

While this strategy was not necessarily the most entertaining if you were one expecting a lot of action based on Berlanga’s having scored sixteen knockouts in his eighteen professional fights prior to this encounter, it was effective in taking an enthusiastic hometown crowd out of the fight. What it also did was in a way expose Berlanga’s strategy in that he seemingly had a headhunter mentality from the outset looking to walk Rolls down and try to end the fight with every punch he threw. Even though this gave the impression that Rolls may have been building a lead on the scorecards as the fight progressed, Berlanga still landed the harder, more effective punches when he did let his hands go including during an exchange of right hands in the fifth round where he was able to avoid Rolls’ right hand while landing his own, which seemed to momentarily stun Rolls. 

 

It was indisputable that Berlanga was the consistent aggressor throughout this fight, but from my perspective, he seemed to have one strategy and did not appear to know how to adapt when it became evident that, that approach was not going to necessarily work as he intended. An element that was absent from Berlanga’s offense for virtually the entire fight was the use of a jab as he came forward. The jab is the most elementary punch that can be used throughout combat sports, but it is also one of the most underappreciated weapons that a fighter can have in their arsenal. Not only in terms of being able to establish and maintain distance between themself and their opponent, but also as what is often referred to throughout the sport of Boxing as the “Table Setter” in using the jab to set up other punches and combinations in a fighter’s arsenal. 

 

The absence of a jab from Berlanga not only limited opportunities to land punches as he pressured Rolls throughout the fight, but it also allowed Rolls openings to land his own jab and move to keep Berlanga chasing him. Although Rolls did not appear to hurt Berlanga at any point in the ten round bout, I felt the fight ended up being far closer than it might have otherwise been at the end of the bout simply because Berlanga limited himself offensively. Despite this, I did feel that Berlanga did just enough to earn a victory on the scorecards based largely on the effect his punches had on Rolls whenever they did land. It was no surprise to see Berlanga earn a ten round unanimous decision, but doing so margins of six rounds to four, and seven rounds to three on two scorecards. 

 

Although two scorecards coming out seven rounds to three or 97-93 in points might give an appearance of a lopsided bout in favor of Berlanga, the reality is all three scorecards were narrow and round by round, the fight was close. While this does not take away from Berlanga, who retained his North-American Boxing Organization (NABO) championship with this victory over Steve Rolls and should maintain his top-ten ranking in the NABO-affiliated World Boxing Organization (WBO) Super-Middleweight rankings, this should be observed both by Berlanga and his handlers as a close call that might require more time in the gym and to be more specific, training in situations where he will have to make adjustments if he is not able to get to an opponent quickly. 

 

 The victory over Rolls marked Berlanga’s third consecutive bout in which he had to go the distance. It should not be viewed necessarily as a negative because it is crucial that a fighter know how to go rounds and know how to go deep into fights as the competition level of their opposition increases over time. What this should be viewed as is an opportunity for Berlanga to not only learn from what was a so, so performance, but also the need to add more tools to his arsenal.  

 

While Edgar Berlanga passed his test against Steve Rolls in New York, unbeaten Welterweight prospect Blair Cobbs faced a test of his own in Los Angeles, CA as he faced fellow prospect Alexis Rocha at the USC Galen Center. Although this bout differed from the Berlanga-Rolls bout from the standpoint of Rolls being much older than Berlanga, this fight between Blair Cobbs and Alexis Rocha did have an element of one fighter being more experienced than the other as Rocha came into the bout with twenty professional fights compared to Cobbs’ sixteen. Rocha also had previously held the WBC Continental America’s championship in the Welterweight division, so this was a step up for Cobbs. Cobbs meanwhile had previously held the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) championship in his career so this was a case where both fighters had achieved success on the regional championship level of the sport, but where one fighter had slightly more experience than the other.  

 

This also appeared to be a bout where the styles of the two fighters would produce an entertaining fight as both are action-first fighters and like to mix it up with their opponents. It was no surprise given the styles of the two fighters as well as both having high knockout percentages to see exchanges from the opening bell. When fights are fought at such a quick pace as this one was, the challenge for an observer and more importantly those who score a fight in an official capacity is to distinguish which fighter is getting the better of what can be heated exchanges of offense. 

 

In this case, the fight seemed to follow a pattern, Rocha trying to cut the ring off from Cobbs, who tried to use his lateral movement to offset Rocha’s pressure. Although there were several exchanges throughout the fight where both fighters had their moments, it appeared at least in my view that Rocha had a little more power on his punches, particularly when he was able to land his left hand from the southpaw stance.  

 

As the fight progressed, Rocha had increased success in finding a home for his left hand on Cobbs’ head. Although Cobbs remained on the move for much of the fight, the dynamic changed in that he became more and more defensive whereas with the success he was having, Rocha became more aggressive. It seemed that Cobbs did not have an answer to avoid Rocha’s left hand. Despite being able to make him miss periodically, Cobbs was unable to land anything to disrupt the pattern of Rocha pressing forward and landing power shots. 

 

With the combat increasingly giving the appearance of one fighter gradually breaking the other down, I did wonder whether or not Cobbs would be able to turn the tempo in his favor. Even though the circumstances were different, much like Edgar Berlanga, Cobbs did not appear to have a plan B. Unlike Berlanga, who was still able to do enough to gain a victory in his bout against Steve Rolls by landing the more effective punches, Blair Cobbs could not land anything to discourage Alexis Rocha from coming forward. It was also noticeable that Cobbs’ activity also began to decrease as the fight went on. 

 

 In round eight after administering significant punishment for several rounds, Rocha would finally get to Blair Cobbs dropping him with a flush left hand to the head followed by a right uppercut that sent Cobbs down and badly hurt on the canvas. To his credit, Cobbs was able to get up, but at this point he was in defensive mode and barely managed to survive the round after sustaining more punishment from a Rocha barrage in the closing seconds. 

 

At this point in the fight, I felt that had the eighth round had more time in it, Referee Rudy Barragan would have stopped the fight. As it was, I was surprised not only based on what had been happening throughout the fight, but what had happened in round eight that the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) allowed Cobbs to come out for the ninth round.  

 

It was in the ninth round that the fight would come to its conclusion. Rocha connected with a right hook to the jaw that set off a barrage of punches that went unanswered that gave Barragan all the justification needed to stop the fight, which he did. Although I was surprised that the fight was not stopped between rounds eight and nine, it is important for me to be honest with the reader who may not have seen this fight, that both Rudy Barragan and Cobbs’ trainer Hall of Famer Freddie Roach each told him that he needed to show them something or they would stop it. Roach in particular appeared as though he was seconds away from stopping it when he told his fighter shortly before a CSAC physician went into the corner to examine Cobbs that he was getting killed out there. 

 

Freddie Roach is one of the best trainers not just in the sport currently, but in Boxing history. Roach learned his trade after his own career as a fighter under the learning tree of his trainer the late great Hall of Famer Eddie Futch. Both Roach and Futch have at times made the difficult decision to pull their fighters out of fights to protect the fighter from themselves. While some may criticize Roach for allowing his fighter in this case Blair Cobbs to talk him into letting him come out for the ninth round, there have also been times where Roach has given his fighters the benefit of doubt and given them a chance. While those chances have not always resulted in come from behind victories for his fighters, Roach understands a fighter’s mentality and it is in some ways good that he treats such situations on a case-by-case basis. 

 

While I feel Roach would have been within his rights to stop this fight as I have seen him do before under similar circumstances, I can appreciate that he wanted to give his fighter the benefit of doubt, while also telling his fighter repeatedly that if he did not show him something in the next round, he would stop it. Although Rudy Barragan did just that before Roach could, if the referee had delayed his stoppage, I believe Freddie Roach would have thrown in the towel.  

 

For Alexis Rocha, this victory will likely move him up the rankings towards a potential world title shot down the line. As for Blair Cobbs, sometimes fighters do not pass the first significant test that is put in front of them. Despite being stopped in this fight by Alexis Rocha, Cobbs did show a lot of heart by getting up from a knockdown that would have ended the night for most fighters. He also did show a true fighter’s mentality by arguing with his trainer and with the CSAC physician to let him try and fight on.  

 

Although we live in an era where no matter what a fighter does, they are always under a microscope and criticized either for their performances in the ring or for their conduct outside the ring, if one is objective, they should tip their hat to Cobbs for the heart he showed in this fight. While one loss will certainly not be a career ender and will be something that Cobbs can learn from in the long-term, hopefully, he will not rush himself back into the ring and will allow himself to physically and mentally heal from the punishment he suffered in this fight. Hopefully, after he has taken some time to both digest and reflect on things, Cobbs can begin the rebuilding process. He does have one of the best trainers in the fight game in his corner that can help in that process when the time is right. 

 

“And That’s The Boxing Truth.” 

 

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