Rocha KOs Cobbs in LA

Alexis Rocha Kos Blair Cobbs in Welterweight Feud in LA

By Tarrah Zael

(Photos by Al Applerose)

LOS ANGELES-Fans gathered at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California for a night of boxing in what is being called an “opportunity to shine” for many rising stars in the sport. The Galen Center was supposed to be filled with Vergil Ortiz Jr. fans; however, five days before the match, Ortiz Jr. had to pull out of the scheduled main event with Michael McKinson due to health issues.

“They match up pretty well. A dangerous fight for both guys,” says Evander Holyfield about the match-up between Alexis “Lex” Rocha and Blair “The Flair” Cobbs.

Rocha (19-1, 13 KO) stopped the “Wooo” circus in the ninth round on Saturday night in a brutal beatdown of Blair “The Flair” Cobbs (15-1-1, 10 KO). The crowd roared with excitement as referee Rudy Barragan waved off the bout only :44 seconds into the ninth round.

The 24-year-old from Santa Ana, California returned with two back-to-back wins after the first loss in his career from Rashid Ellis in October 2020. Rocha grasped the opportunity to show he could wrangle in on Cobbs’ boundless flamboyant energy. With his settled and calm technique, Rocha controlled the fight despite Cobbs’ best effort to lunge any rapid-fire shots upon him. “Blair is a talker, and he was awkward, but I won’t let anyone take me off my game,” stated Rocha after the fight.

In the earlier rounds, Cobbs circled and jabbed quick shots that landed with success upon Rocha. Rocha's right eye was on the receiving end of those shots as it began to swell. By round two, Rocha's right hand continued to connect upon Cobbs as he applied pressure and began to get into the rhythm to fight his own game plan.

By the eighth round, Rocha came out of his corner hungry for more entertainment to the circus as he was not done with his opponent.

Cobbs showed a bit of resilience in the round, but the repeated jabs to his head stunned him. A right hand sent Cobbs to the canvas and the pressure to show not only the referee ‘something’ but Cobb’s trainer Freddie Roach demanded he become more aggressive. Cobb’s went straight into survival mode as the final bell in the eighth round rang.

The ninth round lasted for :44 seconds. Cobbs came out of his corner throwing shots but, a left hook delivered from Rocha sent Cobbs wobbling to the ropes. Rocha finalized the fight with an overhand right and 17 straight shots as the referee stopped the fight with a wave of his hand. The fight was over. Rocha proved to the world, lions and tigers come out on top in the circus.

Co-Main

With high hopes to win America supporters and potentially a career changing performance, Michael McKinson (22-0, 2 KO) had to make the best of an unfortunate situation, now that he was not facing Vergil Ortiz Jr in the main event on the Golden Boy Promotions card. “I am happy and grateful to still be on the card”, says McKinson who is from Portsmouth, Great Britain.

Now fighting on the undercard of Cobbs vs. Rocha; McKinson pressed his opponent Alex “Chi-Town heat” Martin (17-4, 6 KO) all 10-rounds in the welterweight co-feature. The two southpaw styles eerily, clashed and the crowd did not agree with this match up since the beginning rounds.

Martin’s style from the start was fleeting and Mckinson struggled to find him. When McKinson and Martin finally traded hands, it was only for brief seconds before Martin was back to circling out of McKinson’s reach. McKinson had some success in catching his opponent in the seventh, he landed hard straight punches to the head of Martin and snuck in a quick uppercut. Nothing significant stood out between the two as they rarely engaged.

In what we could call evasive, Martin circled his way around the ring thus forcing McKinson to remain the aggressor until the end of the final bell. McKinson remained sharp as he landed what he could upon his counter. All three judges scored the bout in favor of McKinson: 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93.

Undercard

Sanchez vs. Munera

In the DAZN Opener of the night, Southpaw Evan Sanchez (11-0, 6 KO) of Parlier, California matched well with Alejandro Munera (6-5, 5-3 KO) from Medellin, Colombia for a six round super welterweight bout. It was an exciting match up from the start, Sanchez used his height and strength against his opponent. Munera tried his hardest to land a power shot while Sanchez fought his hardest to score a knockout win.

Sanchez controlled the fight from the beginning by landing the hard, cleaner punches. By the fourth round, a perfectly timed right hook had Munera, a former MMA fighter, on the floor of the squared ring. Munera had more in him to continue the round, Sanchez followed up with many landing jabs to finish the round. After six rounds, all three judges scored the rounds in favor of the young prospect Sanchez with scores of 60-53.

Melikuziev vs Zegarra

Southpaw Bektemir “Bully” Melikuziev (9-1, 7-1 KO) of Uzbekistan stops his Peruvian opponent David “La Pantera” Zegarra, only 20 seconds into the second round of a scheduled 10 round light heavyweight battle. The uneventful first round started with both fighters touching gloves, exchanging jabs and crosses thus causing feint “boos” from the crowd. Melikuziev looked to be merely cautious with his style this time in the ring.

A vicious body shot upon Zegarra stopped the bout and the fight was over. This cautionary fighter was not expected from the Uzbek brawler but could have been a result of a smarter fighter as he was under new instruction working with trainers Joel and Antonio Diaz from Indio, California. This was Melikuziev’s second win since the first loss in his career came last June against Gabe Rosado, Rosado sat ringside commentating on the bout as it happened.

Other bouts

Ricon vs. Sanchez

After knocking his opponent Luis Sanchez (9-3, 6 KO) out in the second round, middleweight Alex Rincon (10-0, 7 KO) was sprawled out on the canvas himself. After celebrating his big knockout win, Rincon jumped up in the air, slammed down on the canvas and appeared to be having a seizure. Beto Duran states, “he looked like he was fine walking out but, they took him to the hospital as a precaution”. After catching up with Rincon, “I fainted in my corner. Im surprised the ref let it continue after the first knockdown, but I had to finish the job.”

Recapping on the first round, both fighters started off slow, they took the whole round to warm up to each other. We saw more action in the second round, but it was a quick- hard right hook to Sanchez’ liver that did the most damage. Rincon followed it up with a hook to Sanchez’ head. Sanchez’ head flew back as his body stumbled forward toward his opponent Rincon and onto the canvas. Referee Rudy Barragan allowed Sanchez to continue the round even after the knockdown and wobbly legs. It was very clear he was is in no condition to continue the fight. After the first knockdown, it did not take long before Sanchez was back on the canvas. Referee stopped the bout for a knockout win for Rincon.