By: Sean Crose
Adrien Broner returned to the ring for the first time in nearly a year on Friday night. His opponent was the widely unknown but determined Blair Cobb. The scheduled ten round affair went down at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida and was broadcast live on pay per view. The 35-5-1 Broner stalked his man in the first while the 16-1-1 Cobbs employed a southpaw jab.
Of note was the fact that Broner looked a bit soft in the middle and looked to be breathing heavily in his corner between the first and second rounds. Cobbs started throwing in combinations in the second, and subsequently put Broner to the mat. Broner, after getting to his feet before the count of ten, looked for his mouthpiece. Cobbs proceeded to fire away when the action resumed, but Broner, to his credit, went on to fight furiously as well before the round ended.
Cobbs, who clearly looked to be the sharper of the two fighters, was able to land in the third while largely avoiding Broner with superior footwork. Broner pushed the action in the fourth, as he largely had throughout the bout so far. Broner, however, simply didn’t look all that sharp.
Cobbs was able to rock his man again in the fifth. He did so again in the sixth. By the seventh it was hard to argue against the fact that Broner looked sluggish. Broner was aggressive in the eighth, but Cobbs’ fists were faster. Broner continued to pursue Cobbs in the ninth, with some success. By letting his hands finally go, he was able to look impressive. Broner went on to look good again in the tenth. Indeed, he tagged Cobbs hard at the final bell.
Unfortunately for Broner, it wasn’t enough. The judges awarded Cobbs a unanimous decision win.