Adrien Broner and Blair Cobbs headlined a Don Kings Production card which bore witness to an upset as Broner fell lost handily to his American rival over the course of 10 rounds, potentially spelling the end of his career. The show was held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, on Friday, June 7th.
Despite Blair Cobbs (17-1-1, 10 KO’s) having not fought for almost two years, the 34-year old contender looked the better man on June 7th as he coursed to a unanimous decision (UD) win over Adrien Broner (35-5-1, 24 KO’s).
Broner showed he had not undergone significant improvement since his last match against licensed attorney Bill Hutchinson (20-3-4, 9 KO’s), held nearly exactly a year before on June 9th. While Broner had clearly been the more active fighter compared to Cobbs, the discrepancy between two American fighters’ abilities were plain to see; with Broner showing a fair number of shortcomings when it came to fundamentals, and generally looked too slow―with his punches also appearing too weak―for Broner to prevent himself from getting outclassed.
In the second round, Adrien Broner suffered a knockdown that emphasized his vulnerabilities, being dropped amidst attempting to counter from a left hand by Blair Cobbs―who was in the southpaw stance. Throughout the match, Cobbs proved to be decent in every department and applying a traditional boxing style where he used his height and reach advantages to outbox Broner over most of the rounds. The match, however, was not decided by Cobbs alone as Broner did put up an effort, but one glaring trait common with Broner that likely led to his loss was his inability to be more active in the ring.
Particularly, this boiled down to Broner simply not punching enough to overturn the one-sided loss he suffered, refusing to throw anything substantial until the latter rounds where he appeared to receive a second wind and only then started putting out combinations. However, it was not enough for Broner to make a difference, as even with his increased activity Cobbs boxed well to arguably take most of the latter rounds.
Following the 10-scheduled rounds, Blair Cobbs was announced the deserving winner by unanimous decision, and might find himself on at least one of the sanctioning bodies’ rankings; with the World Boxing Association (WBA) likely to boost Cobbs in their welterweight rankings since Adrien Broner occupied the #9 spot.
As a multi-division world champion, Broner has suffered significant damage throughout his career and seems to have firmly entered the twilight of said career. While both fighters were 34 years old at the time of the fight, Cobbs’ journey only now appears to have actually started whereas Broner will struggle henceforth to be taken seriously as a contender; as a loss towards Cobbs, an inactive fringe contender himself, signifies Broner’s career to be in peril.
While Broner himself has not indicated he would retire, the fact Broner lost handily to an unranked fighter such as Cobbs suggests he will have significant issues if he proceeds to attempt to contend. Though unlikely at this stage of his career, Broner will need to undergo the requisite reteaching of boxing fundamentals and relative improvement to his physical and mental attributes if he were to truly continue on without being relegated as a gatekeeper1.
The co-main event between former top heavyweight contender Michael Hunter (23-1-2, 16 KO’s) and fellow American Cassius Chaney (23-2, 16 KO’s) turned into a decisive UD victory for Hunter who faced little resistance by Chaney. While Chaney was considered a significant potential threat to Hunter, he largely disappointed as he neglected to actually fight, throwing few punches and mostly reverting to tucking up as Hunter launched an offensive.
Given Chaney occupied the #7 position on the WBA’s heavyweight ranking boards at the time of the fight, his performance has put the organization’s rating system into question as his performance suggested Chaney was nowhere close to being a top 10 contender. With the American fighter not putting much of a fight throughout the 10 rounds he was scheduled to face Hunter, Hunter was declared the rightful winner but will likely need a fight of more substance if he intends to legitimately compete as a contender. Hunter also won the WBA Gold title due to his efforts
The Don Kings Productions card also saw an appearance by Cuban former cruiserweight world champion Yuniel Dorticos (27-2, 25 KO’s) whose return to the ring―after not fighting since December of 2022―was marked by an empathetic 1st-round knockout (KO) victory over Mexican opponent Alan Campa (19-10, 13 KO’s).
- an experienced competitor below the level of top contenders but good enough to be used as a test for up-and-coming boxers ↩︎
