Welterweight Blair “The Flair” Cobbs might have secured the biggest win of his career against Adrien Broner, but he now has his eyes set on a future bout with his ‘former friend’ Ryan Garcia.
Cobbs, who dropped Broner in the second round of their ten-round bout, won a unanimous decision last Friday, marking the most significant victory of his career.
Following the win, Cobbs (17-1-1, 10 KOs), 34, known for his entertaining persona, called out the controversy-embroiled Ryan Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs), 25. Cobbs took offense to Garcia offering words of encouragement to his opponent, Broner (34-5-1, 24 KOs), also 34.
Cobbs, who is now under the Don King promotional banner, used to be aligned with Golden Boy Promotions who still have Garcia under contract. They go back a long way.
“I would most like to fight Ryan Garcia,” Cobbs told BoxingScene. “I never considered fighting Ryan Garcia, I thought that he was a good person. I thought we were friends. Until this fight was coming about, and he said, ‘Oh yeah, I need AB to end Blair The Flair’s career’ and this and this and that.’”
Cobbs, who had fought on the same card as Garcia, was stunned by this development, feeling that Garcia, with whom he had built a bond, was unsupportive during one of his first ‘big moments’ or big fights.
“What I thought we were, boys,” said Cobbs. “I was the first one to say, ‘Yo, man, if you’re going through mental things and this and that, I got some help for you.’ I was always a good friend to Ryan, and for him to turn his back on me, throw shade at me the moment…”
Cobbs also referenced a sparring session that turned into a heated exchange between the two, detailing the encounter.
“We have a little history, history with one another,” said Cobbs. “He wants to talk about, ‘Oh, yeah, well, I knocked you down in sparring,’ well, I also made you quit in sparring. Yeah, I got knocked down. I got up and made you quit. I made you turn into a b****.”
Reflecting on his win, Cobbs told BoxingScene: “There was no tune-up, you guys, I went straight into the big fight, and I did really well.”
Cobbs expressed profound respect for Broner, noting he didn’t even know that Broner had hurt his arm or that he knocked out Broner’s tooth.
“When I tell you I threw everything I could, and he absorbed a lot of big shots, and just kept coming,” said Cobbs about Broner. “As far as his tooth being knocked out, and seeing the tooth fly out, I didn’t see any of that. I just noticed that his mouthpiece kept falling out every time I hit his face or his mouth, his mouthpiece would fall a few times.”
Cobbs recalled: “I expected him to be that tough. But man, when I tell you, like the shots got through had everything on it, and it usually put every person down, the same punch I put them down with. I hit him like five, six times with the exact same shot [from] different angles, in different places, on his body, like on his head. [I] knocked guys out in training camp with that shot.”
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