03-20-2022, 06:24 PM
Whoooooo! Rocha TKOs Cobbs in 9
By Miguel Maravilla and Rocky Morales at ringside
Welterweight Alexis Rocha (19-1, 13 KOs) broke down and stopped previously unbeaten Blair Cobbs (15-1-1, 10 KOs) in round nine on Saturday night at the USA Gelen Center in downtown Los Angeles. Rocha broke down Cobbs, dropping him in round eight and getting a referee’s stoppage in round nine.
* * *
In a fight that was mostly painful to watch, WBO #4 ranked welterweight, Michael “The Problem” McKinson (22-0, 2KO) won a wide unanimous decision victory over late replacement, Alex Martin (17-4 6KO) in a 10 round welterweight co-main event. McKinson was originally slated to meet undefeated WBO #1 ranked Vergil Ortiz Jr. but that fell through with Ortiz Jr. hospitalized earlier this week with rhabdomyolysis.
So, instead of watching Ortiz Jr., the 90% Latino L.A. crowd was now watching a British boxer with no power against a late replacement from Chicago that had little more power. The most interesting part of the fight happened in round eight when a fight in the stands erupted, one person was escorted out and then dozens of fans left their seats and ran up the stairs to join the extracurricular activities.
The actual fight in the ring resembled a 10 round sparring contest with Martin unwilling to engage with McKinson despite McKinson’s less than 10% knockout ratio. By the middle rounds, the crowd was routinely booing, particularly to end each round. This is where a John Molina Jr. or Joselito Lopez type replacement fighter could have saved this fight but Martin was content to go ten rounds with as few meaningful exchanges as possible. Even when Martin threw punches, they seemed to lack conviction and McKinson might not crack an egg so that didn’t make for compelling edge-of-the-seat action.
The judges scored the bout all in favor of McKinson by scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93. Fans mostly booed the decision not out of disagreement but rather as a reminder of what they thought of the fight.
By Miguel Maravilla and Rocky Morales at ringside
Welterweight Alexis Rocha (19-1, 13 KOs) broke down and stopped previously unbeaten Blair Cobbs (15-1-1, 10 KOs) in round nine on Saturday night at the USA Gelen Center in downtown Los Angeles. Rocha broke down Cobbs, dropping him in round eight and getting a referee’s stoppage in round nine.
* * *
In a fight that was mostly painful to watch, WBO #4 ranked welterweight, Michael “The Problem” McKinson (22-0, 2KO) won a wide unanimous decision victory over late replacement, Alex Martin (17-4 6KO) in a 10 round welterweight co-main event. McKinson was originally slated to meet undefeated WBO #1 ranked Vergil Ortiz Jr. but that fell through with Ortiz Jr. hospitalized earlier this week with rhabdomyolysis.
So, instead of watching Ortiz Jr., the 90% Latino L.A. crowd was now watching a British boxer with no power against a late replacement from Chicago that had little more power. The most interesting part of the fight happened in round eight when a fight in the stands erupted, one person was escorted out and then dozens of fans left their seats and ran up the stairs to join the extracurricular activities.
The actual fight in the ring resembled a 10 round sparring contest with Martin unwilling to engage with McKinson despite McKinson’s less than 10% knockout ratio. By the middle rounds, the crowd was routinely booing, particularly to end each round. This is where a John Molina Jr. or Joselito Lopez type replacement fighter could have saved this fight but Martin was content to go ten rounds with as few meaningful exchanges as possible. Even when Martin threw punches, they seemed to lack conviction and McKinson might not crack an egg so that didn’t make for compelling edge-of-the-seat action.
The judges scored the bout all in favor of McKinson by scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93. Fans mostly booed the decision not out of disagreement but rather as a reminder of what they thought of the fight.