Blair Cobbs
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Blair Romero Cobbs (born December 30, 1989) is an American
professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
who has held the WBC- NABF
welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...
title since 2019.


Early life

Blair Romero Cobbs was born on December 30, 1989, in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. He moved with his mother from city to city until his mother died when he was eleven years old, at which time he moved in with his grandmother. Following his grandmother's death he lived with his father, Eugene Cobbs, eventually relocating to Guadalajara, Mexico, after his father became a fugitive from the FBI. It was in Guadalajara where Cobbs found boxing.


Professional career

Cobbs made his professional debut on June 28, 2013, scoring a first-round
knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...
(KO) victory over Martique Holland at Lera's Baile Mexicano in
Ruffin, North Carolina Ruffin is an unincorporated community located in Rockingham County, North Carolina, United States. In 2023, the population estimate was 501. Geography Ruffin is located northeast of Reidsville, North Carolina, and southwest of Danville, Vir ...
. After compiling a record of 9–0–1 (6 KOs) he faced Ferdinand Kerobyan for the vacant WBC- NABF Junior
welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...
title on March 21, 2019, at The Avalon in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Kerobyan suffered a cut in the first round from an accidental clash of heads, which Cobbs targeted with sharp jabs. With Cobbs' hand speed being the decisive factor, he went on to win by
unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...
(UD) to capture his first professional title. One judge scored the bout 79–73 and the other two scored it 77–75. After a sixth-round
knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...
(KO) victory against Robert Redmond Jr. in a non-title bout in June, Cobbs made the first defence of his title against Steve Villalobos on August 22 at the
Fantasy Springs Resort Casino Fantasy Springs Resort Casino is a casino and hotel located southeast of Palm Springs near I-10 in Indio, California. It is owned and operated by the Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Indians, a federally recognized tribe. The hotel has 250 rooms and ...
in
Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. Indio is approximately east of Los Angeles, east of Palm Springs, ...
. After an even back-and-forth fight for the first five rounds, Cobbs suffered the first knockdown of his career in the sixth after being stunned by a right followed by a flurry of punches to send him to the canvas. After taking control in rounds seven and eight, Cobbs ended the fight in the ninth after landing a series of uppercuts followed by a right hand to send Villalobos stumbling into the ropes and onto the canvas, giving Cobbs the KO win. His next fight came against Carlos Cervantes for the vacant WBC-NABF welterweight title on November 2, 2019, at the
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in
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. The bout served as part of the
undercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...
for Canelo Álvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev. After suffering a knockdown in the first round – a punch from Villalobos grazed the back of Cobbs' head, causing him to stumble and touch the canvas with his left hand and knee – Cobbs scored a knockdown of his own in the sixth with a counter left hook. Cervantes made it to his feet to see out the remainder of the round, only for his
corner Corner may refer to: People *Corner (surname) *House of Cornaro, a noble Venetian family (''Corner'' in Venetian dialect) Places * Corner, Alabama, a community in the United States *Corner Inlet, Victoria, Australia * Corner River, a tributary o ...
to pull him out of the contest before the start of the seventh, handing Cobbs a stoppage win via seventh-round
corner retirement A corner retirement (also known as a corner stoppage) is a term in boxing used to describe a fight ending when a boxer refuses to continue or their corner team pulls them out during the rest period between rounds. This results in the referee sto ...
(RTD). The first defense of his newly acquired title came on February 14, 2020, against Samuel Kotey Neequaye at the
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in
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, California. In a fight which saw Cobbs stay behind the jab and box at range, he received a point deduction in round nine for punching below the belt en route to a
split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split de ...
(SD) victory. Two judges scored the bout 96–93 in favour of Cobbs while the third scored it 95–94 to Neequaye.


Professional boxing record


References


External links


BBC podcast Lives Less Ordinary 13 February 2023 part 1: 40 minutes
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobbs, Blair Living people 1989 births American male boxers Welterweight boxers Boxers from Philadelphia Southpaw boxers