Golden Boy Fight Week Interview Part 1:
Blair “The Flair” Cobbs
By William Trillo.JPG)
This Saturday at The Galen Center in Los Angeles, welterweights Blair Cobbs (15-0-1, 10 KO’s) and Alexis Rocha (18-1, 12 KO’s) will square off in the Semi-Main event that is sure to be a fan pleasing affair. The fight that will also be streamed on DAZN is one battle that should not be missed.
After botching the logistics of my scheduled Zoom Teleconference, we took a more traditional approach and I got to speak with Cobbs on the phone about this very interesting matchup of Golden Boy fighters.
Pound4Pound: Well, Blair, you probably can tell by that little incident that I’m old school, okay?
Blair Cobbs: That’s okay.
P4P: Do you know what I liked about old school boxing?
BC: No, tell me, what did you like about it?
Pound4Pound: It’s that fighters back in the day, even if they were under the same promoter, would get together in the ring in spite of coming from the same “stable”, and they would do it often. That made for some great local battles. That stopped happening as the years went by and it happened rarely if at all recently in the pre-pandemic days. But truthfully, I think the pandemic forced open some doors that had been shut for years. Fighters who have been idle need to get back in the ring. That is making for some very good matchups now. Case in point; Blair Cobbs vs. Alexis Rocha
BC: Absolutely, absolutely. I look forward to claiming dominance and supremacy in my weight class and in my promotional company (Golden Boy) and also in the networks, like DAZN.
P4P: Taking nothing away from the Vergil Ortiz and the Main Event, when I saw the initial press release, I thought you and Rocha were just fighting different opponents on the same card. But when I realized you were fighting each other, it was the Wow Factor. I was calling my hardcore boxing fan buddies telling them, “You got to watch to this fight.” This is like a “let the rubber meet the road” point in your careers. You guys have similar records, similar number of fights in the same venues, a couple of Southpaws. This fight has the makings of a Barn Burner.
BC: Absolutely, absolutely. And I look forward to making sure all the people all around the world know that this is the main event. This is the main attraction. This is what you, the fans need to see. This is a big fight against two top contenders. And we’re going to go at it in the peak of shape at the peak of our careers. This is what boxing needs.
P4P: I agree 100%. Anybody who’s reading this needs to make sure to be in front of the TV when the bell rings for this one, and they need to tell their friends. Tell me how do you see this playing out?
BC: Oh, I see a great fight. I see something happening that’s going to spark the imagination of people. And it’s going to be very interesting how I shut it down. You know, because the thing is, you can’t just pity pat touch and move, touch and move. I can do that all day. But “Blair the Flair” does not to just win the fight. “Blair The Flair” wants to thrive in the fight and claim dominance in the fight. “Blair The Flair” is always going to be looking for knockouts and looking for the world to be impressed by what he does in the ring..JPG)
P4P: Again, going back to that Old School, I like my fighters to show me they are fighters. Don’t just try to impress me only with sticking and moving and nothing more. What do fighters have when the heat is on and they are faced with some serious drama? I have seen you face adversity a couple of times. You struggled for a moment but then you kicked in another gear and got yourself back into the fight. That’s something you can’t teach in the gym. That comes from inside, and I give you a lot of credit for that.
BC: Absolutely, and that’s what it’s about. Too many boxing people are getting too caught up with statistics and ratings and trying to make boxing more business than what it really is, an entertainment sport. And it’s time to turn boxing back to where it used to be. Making boxing great again. And that’s just really what it’s about.
It’s been so boring and so bad because a lot of these top fighters are not great fighters. They’re good fighters but they’re not great fighters. Terrence Crawford is not a great fighter. He’s a good fighter at best. He’s not doing the best that he can do inside and outside the ring. He’s not sparking any kind of real interest with the people.
A lot of people may know nothing about boxing, but they come to see a fight. They want to be dazzled. You know they want? They want to be amazed. And you have a lot of fighters out here right now today that are boxing and they’re really good athletes, but you have to be a bigger than that. You have to be an entertainer. People want to see action; people want to see what happens when your back is up against the rope. So yeah, “Blair The Flair” takes a lot of big fights that I might not be the favorite, I might not even be the favorite in this fight. But against all, “Blair The Flair” is going to show you what it means to be great.
P4P: I let my real boxing fans know about this fight I’ll make sure that the casual fan knows to watch this fight too. I really appreciate your time.
BC: Thank you very much.
P4P: I’ll see you next week.
BC: Thanks, Take care.
Tickets for the event are on sale now and are priced at $150, $75, $50 and $25 not including applicable service charges. Tickets will be available for purchase at www.galencenter.org or www.goldenboypromotions.com.
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