Adrien Broner vs Blair Cobbs Preview

Adrien Broner (35-4-1, 24 KOs) will be taking on Blair Cobbs (16-1-1, 10 KOs) in a welterweight contest for the “WBC People’s Championship” at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL, on Friday, June 7, live on Triller TV PPV in the US. It has been a long time since Broner has been involved in a fight of any real significance. Cobbs, in his most recent fights, was stopped by Alexis Rocha in his first real step up before he beat Maurice Hooker, who has seen better days.

It is hard to believe, but Broner is only 34 years old. For most boxers, this would be the age when their prime years are slowly coming to an end. Yet, for Broner, his prime years are a long, distant memory. He is a former four-weight division champion who initially showed a lot of promise and God-given ability, but his subsequent accomplishments fell short of those high expectations. Broner became that unfortunate, tremendously talented fighter who got in his own way with personal struggles and bad choices. At 34, he is no longer considered a future star. It appears he is now fighting for mere relevance and an increased bank balance.

Breaking Down Broner vs. Cobbs

A quick look at both men’s careers shows Broner’s huge promise in his 20s, with shades of a potential, genuinely great career on the horizon. Yet, we can also see that “age is just a number.” No two 34-year-olds will share the same experiences. Cobbs, also 34, has had far less of an eventful and accomplished career.

Broner won his first title at super featherweight, scoring a vicious third-round KO against Vicente Martin Rodriguez in November 2011 to win the WBO title. In his second defense, Broner came in overweight at 133.5 pounds and was stripped of his title. A few months later, Broner moved up and won the WBC lightweight title in November 2012, where he dominated and stopped Antonio DeMarco in eight rounds in impressive fashion. After one successful title defense, Broner moved up to welterweight to face Paulie Malignaggi, with a lively build-up which culminated in a welterweight title for Broner via a split decision win in June 2013.

In his next fight, Broner suffered his first professional career loss at the hands of Marcos Maidana, being dropped twice en route to a unanimous decision loss. Broner immediately moved down to super lightweight, scoring three successful wins before securing a catch-weight fight at 144 pounds against Shawn Porter. Broner was not nearly busy enough during the fight, and although he scored a 12th-round knockdown, Porter still comfortably won on the scorecards. Broner returned to super lightweight.

“The Problem” won the vacant WBA super lightweight title, stopping Khabib Allakhverdiev in October 2015. In his first defense against Ashley Theophane, Broner lost his title on the scales as he weighed in slightly overweight. Broner stopped Theophane, then returned to the ring ten months later, scoring a split decision win against Adrian Granados in February 2017. This was Broner’s last win at the world level.

Broner did not get another win for exactly four years. He lost to Mikey Garcia, had a draw with Jessie Vargas and lost to Manny Pacquiao. Since his loss to Pacquiao in January 2019, Broner has only fought twice, defeating Jovanie Santiago and Bill Hutchinson via unanimous decision. It is unclear how much hunger and desire Broner still has left in boxing, and signing with Don King cannot be a positive sign for any fighter, but at his best, he was undoubtedly a phenomenal talent.

Both Men Look To Reignite Their Careers

Cobbs will be determined to follow up his career-best win against Hooker with a victory against a big name and a more established foe in Broner. Speaking at the pre-fight press conference, Cobbs said: “I have been waiting for this moment my whole life.” The Philadelphia-born fighter’s first notable fight against Rocha in March 2022 could have propelled Cobbs to the summit of the welterweight division as a genuine contender, but Cobbs was stopped in nine rounds. Cobbs subsequently outpointed Hooker in August 2022 in his career-best win. He has not fought since. Cobbs also signed with King in March, and all of the talks since surrounding this potential match-up finally came to fruition.

Broner will be looking to reignite his career with a win, now under the guidance of noted trainer Calvin Ford, the long-time trainer of Gervonta Davis. For Broner, relevancy appears to be the only positive that comes with a win here. It would not add anything to his career, considering his prior accomplishments. A loss would have more of an impact on his career than a victory.

For a fight that does not appear to have the makings of anything special heading in, Broner, at least on the surface, sounds like he is aware of the ramifications of a loss and how people will view his career. He was talking the talk, in his usual style at the pre-fight press conference “I’m here to put my life on the line,” Broner said. “June 7th I’m not coming to just put on a show for the fans. I’m coming to die if I got to.” In his Ric Flair “Woo” style, the general message coming from Cobbs is that it is “his time.”

Broner’s unpredictability makes the result a difficult one to predict. He holds a significant advantage in experience and once possessed the blazing speed and power to turn anyone’s lights out, but we have not seen that happen since early 2016. Cobbs has not fought in nearly two years, but his desire and motivation to win, in reality, may be greater than Broner’s. Getting Broner’s name on his resume would greatly boost Cobbs’ career. Broner cannot say the same about a win in this one.

It’s an unpredictable fight, not for all of the right reasons. That could be the only incentive you need to tune in.