There isn’t any place that Blair Cobbs would rather be on Valentine’s Day than with his one true love.
“On Valentine’s Day, that’s a night of passion,” Cobbs (13-0-1, 9KOs) told BoxingScene.com of his desire to fight on a night dedicated to lovers. “When I come into the ring, I bring a whole lot of passion of boxing. I'm bringing a whole lot of passion to the ring on Valentine's Day.”
The Las Vegas-based southpaw will, of course, have to bring his A-game as well, as the rising welterweight prospect officially has a target on his back. For his potential as a future player in the stacked welterweight division, there shouldn’t be any issue in getting past Ghana’s Samuel Kotey, whom Cobbs faces on the undercard of a February 14 show, which airs live on DAZN from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
A quick glance at the evening’s lineup shows just how much attention was paid by the event handlers in putting together the ideal Valentine’s Day show.
Headlining the bill is unbeaten lightweight contender Ryan Garcia (19-0, 16KOs), the wildly popular Los Angeles native who continues to prove to be more than just another pretty face and with the next step in his career coming versus former title challenger Francisco Fonseca (25-2-2, 19KOs). In the chief support comes Venezuela’s Jorge Linares (46-5, 28KOs), a former three-division titlist whose clash with Carlos Morales (19-4-4, 8KOs) will determine whether a head-on collision with Garcia is in his future.
While much of the media attention has been afforded to Garcia—and to a lesser degree, Linares—Cobbs is less concerned with the focus heading in than the opportunity to steal headlines and hearts on the way out.
“Every show I’ve fought on, I proved to be the fighter everyone talks about when they leave,” insists Cobbs, who enjoyed a four-win campaign in 2019.
The most recent of the lot came on a show which saw Garcia and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez score headline-grabbing wins last November in Las Vegas. Cobbs drew his own share of attention in a preliminary appearance in his first career fight in his adopted hometown, with the Philadelphia-born boxer rising from the deck to drop and stop Carlos Ortiz in six rounds.
The feat came on the heels of a similarly patterned stoppage win over Steve Villalobos last August, where Cobbs was dropped in the 6th round before dropping and stopping the previously unbeaten welterweight in round nine.
“There’s no telling what’s going to come out of my fight when I’m in the ring,” notes Cobbs. “On this night of passion, I’m coming in with nothing but love for my fans. I will be the most exciting fight of the night. Ryan Garcia is the headliner but the prettiest face and the biggest attraction of the night will be Blair ‘The Flair’ Cobbs. Woo!”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox