Alexis Rocha was willing to let Blair Cobbs do all of the talking as has been the case throughout the promotion.
That was until he heard what his unbeaten counterpart had to say.
“If you want to send a message to me, that’s fine. But don’t disrespect me,” Rocha told BoxingScene.com ahead of his upcoming ten-round welterweight battle with Cobbs this Saturday. “If you disrespect me, I’m going to make you pay for it. I am a quiet guy but if you say something disrespectful to me or my team or my family, I’m going to retaliate.
“At the end of the day, you still have to fight me.”
The contentious build-up to their crossroads reached a boiling point during the final pre-fight press conference Thursday afternoon at Golden Boy Promotions headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. Cobbs (15-0-1, 10KOs) spent the entire build-up running his mouth—as only the outspoken 32-year-old southpaw can do—while Rocha (18-1, 12KOs) was content in playing the quiet counterpart and focusing his attention on fight night.
That changed once Cobbs started talking through Rocha instead of to his welterweight rival.
The stakes of the fight have increased in recent days, upgraded to the DAZN main event this Saturday at USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles. The promotion came after rising welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr. (18-0, 18KOs) was hospitalized and treated for rhabdomyolysis which resulted in his being pulled from a scheduled 12-round fight with England’s Michael McKinson (21-0, 2KOs).
Cobbs took his shot, attempting to command the spotlight in the belief that he was the star of the show. Rocha more than held his own at Thursday’s press conference, giving as good as—and often at times better than—he was getting, complete with the two being separated during an intense staredown.
Of course, Rocha has not lost sight of the most important part of this event.
“Blair is an entertainer. He likes running his mouth and talking up a lot of nonsense,” notes Rocha, who has won two straight since a 12-round loss to Rashidi Ellis in October 2020. “I don’t know where it comes from but yeah with all the stuff Blair says, it’s interesting. It does draw (more attention) to this fight.
“At the end of the day, you have to go fight in the ring. Talking is fun, of course you have to talk up the fight. But in the end, you have to go in the ring. The talking he’s done, to me it’s the same as any other fighter.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
