Blair Cobbs: Boxing is his Sanctuary

By Luis A. Cortes III

Saturday night’s mega fight card live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas is indeed being headlined by the historic showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Sergey Kovalev.  While this matchup between the reigning middleweight king and the current WBO light heavyweight champion has brought members of the boxing media to Sin City from all over the country, Blair “The Flair” Cobbs (12-0-1) (8 KO’s) is aware that this is his moment to establish himself, make believers out of everyone watching, and prove he is the future of boxing. Tomorrow night, Cobbs will meet Carlos Ortiz (11-4) (11 KO's) in a 10-round fight for the NABF welterweight title. 

This is the type of opportunity (being in the opening fight of the main portion of the televised card) that Cobbs has been working towards as a professional fighter for the past six years.  Not only will a victory for Cobbs announce his presence to the sport, as he makes the transition from welterweight prospect to championship contender (this fight will be for the vacant NABF title), it’s the first step that he needs to take in trying to do what all fighters crave to ultimately do... Become a bankable transcendent star.

As he stands inside of the MGM Casino with his team at his side just outside of a casino bar moments after finishing an open workout for fans and media, this version of Blair Cobbs is a much more subdue man than the one who was just entertaining the crowd and shouting that he “is the baddest, most exciting man in boxing today.”

With a frenzy taking place and fans screaming for free promotional gifts as other undercard fighters shadow boxed and skipped ropes to help promote Saturday night's event, Team Cobbs arrived for their turn. The polite, soft spoken, and thoughtful twenty-nine-year-old flipped a switch as he stepped through the ropes.  By the time his feet landed inside of the ring he had transformed into the “The Flair,” and started shouting into the cameras and towards the fans.  Instantly understanding and showing the world that inside of the ring is not only his sanctuary, but also his stage.

Cobbs even showed off one of his unique training techniques to the crowd.  After spinning around in a circle to off-set his balance, Cobb was tossed three balls that he started to juggle.  The thought process being that he can train his body and mind to successfully juggle three balls while dizzy.  This form of training will lead to an improved ability to fight and maintain coordination if he is ever hurt and dazed from a punch.  Once his time inside of the ring ended, Cobbs left the ring and the public workout area.  Minutes later, he had internally flipped the switch back off and was once again, Blair.

The road for Cobbs arrival to fight week has been nothing but unorthodox, even for the often-crazy unpredictable world of boxing.  His backstory and road to the sport is something the best screenwriters and producers in Hollywood couldn’t even come up with.  “There are many chapters that explain my life.  I was born in Philadelphia and lived in Beverly Hills where I went to high school.  Another chapter was having to move with my father and sister to Guadalarja, Mexico.  That’s where I learned to box.  Boxing and that ring became my sanctuary,” stated Cobbs.

It was back in 2004 that Cobbs and his sister were suddenly moved to Mexico by their father.  Eugene Cobbs was a prime target of the FBI who were searching for him in connection with an air plane crash in West Virginia.  Eugene had allegedly crashed a private plane and fled the scene because inside of the plane was 525 pounds of cocaine.  With the U.S. Marshals closing in on him and his family, Mexico became home for the Cobbs family.

Once in Mexico, Cobbs tried his best to adapt to his new surroundings by picking up the language, which he speaks fluently.  He wandered into a boxing gym and took to the sport like a fish to water.  Cobbs would keep a low profile to keep his family together everywhere except for inside of the gym.  “I was fighting like every weekend and it was great.  I was in some real knockdown drag out fights,” recalled Cobbs.  In 2007, Eugene was captured and Blair was set free as he was able to return to his home country.  He found himself back in Philadelphia after a stint in New York, but with no money and no prospects for financial gain.  Cobbs once again found sanctuary behind the walls of a boxing gym.

“I was unprepared for the streets of Philadelphia.  I was all over the city, West, North, Germantown.  Surviving those city streets is hard.”  Through boxing Cobbs was able to make his name in the city in the same fashion that he did while fighting and trying to survive in Mexico.  After turning professional in 2013 he found some success in and out of the boxing ring.  Cobbs still had no financial stability but was training locals at the Joe Hand Boxing Gym and using whatever money he could put together to eat properly and train.  While living out of his car, he finally received a break when he was noticed by former associates of Bernard Hopkins.

Once again, Cobbs decided that it would be best to try and establish himself in a new environment to continue his path in boxing, so he moved to Las Vegas.  This move occurred because, despite knowing associates of a legend, he couldn’t get a fight on the grounds that no one wanted to face him.  His career was at a turning point, thus the move out west.  Former WBA bantamweight champion Clarence “Bones” Adams was serving time and met Cobbs' cousin.  They spoke about Blair and Adams agreed to meet with the young talent upon his release.

They immediately connected not just through boxing, but through their shared experiences and similar backgrounds.  Adams was so convinced that Cobbs was a special talent that he got Brandon Woods, his former trainer, to return to Las Vegas to help with training and Cobbs' development.  Finally having a steady home in Las Vegas and a stable team to support his growth as a fighter and man, Cobbs won several fights in a row. He reconnected with the former associate of Bernard Hopkins in Vegas, and after a few more wins, signed a promotional contract with Golden Boy Promotions.

With boxing being Blair Cobbs' sanctuary in Mexico, New York, Philadelphia, back to Mexico wining professional fights, and now in Las Vegas, at 29, Cobbs needs to make a splash before his physical prime runs its course.  After all, father time waits for no man, not even the Flair.  He is aware of this and along with his back story, his ability to speak fluent Spanish (which opens him up to the Latino market), his fan friendly fighting style, and his willingness to interact with fans, Cobbs has finally reached the moment for his career to start taking off towards bigger fights, which also means bigger pay days.  The first step for Cobbs to take towards his ultimate goals starts tomorrow night when he steps through the ropes and into the ring, which after all, is the place he also calls his “sanctuary."

Photo - BoxRec.com

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Breaking Down Canelo vs. GGG II

The time for talk and speculating are almost up, but the anticipation continues to rise as the sport of boxing reaches fight week, days before the scheduled bout between middleweight rivals: Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Gennady "GGG" Golovkin. It was just a year ago, when both fighters were preparing to face off on Mexican Independence Day, while some fans and media called that match up a potential brawl, or ideal 'fight of the year" candidate. Instead, we were left with a technical and somewhat strenuous fight to score, leaving the sport full of controversy in and out of the ring. One question remains the same, and that is: who will emerge victorious?

That answer may be harder to resolve now than last year, as both Alvarez and Golovkin have established a sense of familiarity with each other and their arsenal. To sum that up: the pressure from Golovkin, the counter-punching from Alvarez and the durability of both boxers are what transpired. Today, I will discuss keys to victory, on top of this writers prediction on the rematch this Saturday.

Keys to Vctory -

Gennady Golovkin: *Bodywork and inside fighting.* GGG will have to execute his aggression towards Canelo in a similar approach, but with a few adjustments. The times GGG had Canelo against the ropes ordered a lot more straight crosses and left hooks downstairs than what spectators visualized. Punching through the guard and shoulders against Canelo may prove too difficult while he's backpedaling, but Gennady needs to dictate that pace. He cannot win this fight with a jab by itself.

Saul Alvarez: *Stick and move + more counter-punching.* It's safe to say Canelo found a good amount of success using the ring, rolling punches and countering GGG. Simply, not enough of those counters, or punches were thrown in general and he needs a higher pace of output. It's unwise to pursue and utilize outside fighting against GGG, but it's clear that Canelo needs to turn it up more this time around in the rematch.

To be fair, both fighters executed solid plans when they faced each other in 2017. Each boxer has equal room for improvement and calling a fight of this magnitude may be hard for some, especially this being a rematch with "bad intentions" between the boxers. This writer had picked Golovkin' to defeat Alvarez in the first meeting, but what about this time?

In this article, Canelo is the pick for Saturdays main event. He is the younger boxer with more agile movement, as well as being able to take Gennady's punches. Alvarez is the fighter with faster hands and that motions a better fight going in than before due to not being as intimidated by the power from GGG.

Chris Mealey

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Canelo vs. GGG II: Boxing's Latest Soap Opera

Regardless of how you scored Canelo vs. GGG I last September, it was an entertaining, marquee bout that was good for the sport of boxing. To the delight of the boxing and overall world of sports, the two men are scheduled for a 2018 Cinco de Mayo rematch at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, this bout is now in danger of being postponed and/or cancelled due to Canelo's February double failed drug tests, and the reaction of GGG's camp. As many of you already know, Canelo's camp claimed that he ate meat contaminated with the banned substance, clenbuterol, a substance commonly found in contaminated Mexican meat. GGG and members of his camp, including his trainer Abel Sanchez, did not buy into this excuse. They pointed out that Canelo's trainers, Eddy and Chepo Reynoso, are Mexican butchers who should have known to steer their fighter clear of meat contaminated with this performance enhancing substance.

This issue, along with claims from Sanchez that Canelo illegally wrapped his hands in the first bout, are causing drama leading up to this fight. On Tuesday at a meeting with the media in Big Bear Lake, California, GGG ripped apart Alvarez and his camp, as well as members of the Nevada State Athletic Commission for being too lenient towards Canelo because of the fighter's popularity around the world. The fighter and his trainer both believe that Canelo was advised to use the substance in hopes of having an advantage in their May rematch. These claims were immediately rejected by Eric Gomez, the president of Golden Boy Promotions. About 24 hours later, Canelo responded to GGG's accusations with the following message, "I'm going to kick your fucking ass."

In closing this reporter has to ask himself, will Canelo vs. GGG II happen? And if not, will GGG fight Billy Joe Saunders? Furthermore, I would like to know why a millionaire, Mexican boxer was eating contaminated meat? I mean Canelo is no Dustin Johnson, a man who has gone on record praising the positive aspects of eating contaminated meat... (j/k).

As yet another boxing soap opera unfolds before our eyes, I urge you to stay tuned to The Weigh-In, as our expert and lovable staff members analyze and break down the biggest stories in the world of combat sports. Who knows? You may eventually get another angry rant about the state of boxing from Luis Cortes, or a professional wrestling (aka wrassling) article from Steve Ward leading up to Wrestlemania 34. And if you are really lucky, The People's Redhead may pull himself away from analyzing contaminated meat to discuss the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix.

MW

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