When Alexis Rocha lost to Rashidi Ellis in October 2020 and suffered his first pro debut, he told DAZN News he had to change mentally to become a contender in the welterweight division. He did just that with back-to-back knockout wins in 2021. Could he bring that momentum heading into his first main event on Saturday against Blair Cobbs?
He did and then some as Rocha dropped and put a beating on Cobbs to win via knockout at 0:44 of the ninth round at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. DAZN News had it scored 77-74 for Rocha at the time of the stoppage.
"Do not play with Mexicans," Rocha defiantly said in his post-fight interview with DAZN's Chris Mannix.
In the early going, Cobbs was having success. He was landing the quicker shots, but Rocha's shots were having more of an effect. The tide of the fight shifted and Rocha began to pull away in the fifth round.
Rocha (19-1, 13 KOs) was finding a home with the left hand. It didn't matter which direction it was coming from nor did it matter where it landed as it found a home more often than not. Several left hooks wobbled Cobbs and nearly had him out on his feet. But as he showed throughout the fight, Cobbs showed a ton of heart and survived the round. Rocha did more of the same in the sixth. But in between the sixth and seventh round, Cobbs' game plan changed as his head trainer Freddie Roach told him to start being more aggressive.
Cobbs (15-1, 10 KOs) listened. He caught Rocha with two punches down the middle, which caught Rocha's attention, and snapped his head back both times. The momentum didn't last long for "Blair The Flair".
Rocha began the eighth like someone stole his lunch at school. He came out and unloaded one power shot after another. Finally, a right hand sent Cobbs to the canvas. Rocha looked to put Cobbs away. Instead, he rocked Cobbs with a right hook. The referee told Cobbs to show him something, or he'd stop it. A left-hand wobbled Cobbs, who was in survival mode and made it out of the round. Roach told Cobbs as soon as he got on the stool that he was going to stop if Cobbs didn't get it together in a hurry.
Cobbs began the ninth going for the knockout. But Rocha had seen enough and closed the show with a couple of chopping lefts in the clinch that sent Cobbs wobbling to the ropes. Cobbs came out of the break, and an overhand right sent him back again. Rocha unloaded a barrage of shots until the referee stepped in and waved it off.
Here is what happened at Alexis Rocha vs. Blair Cobbs.