Adrien Broner-Blair Cobbs Set For June 7 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
A spectacularly dysfunctional fight several weeks in the making has finally made its way to the schedule.
Adrien Broner and Blair Cobbs are set to collide on June 7 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Their welterweight battle will headline the latest offering from Don King. The show is dedicated to the late Jose Sulaiman, the former WBC president and a longtime friend of the Hall of Fame promoter.
“This spectacular fighting event is dedicated to the honor of the life and legacy of the late great Jose Sulaiman in the spirit of world peace,” King said in a provided statement. “Jose was at the forefront of always putting on great fights and we plan to honor him with this great card.”
Broner (35-4-1, 24 knockouts) will go 52 weeks between bouts by the opening bell. His previous appearance marked his debut with Don King Productions (DKP). The former four-division titlist outpointed Bill Hutchinson over ten rounds last June 9 in Miami, Florida.
It marked the second straight win for Broner, though on the heels of a 28-month inactive stretch. He previously defeated unbeaten Jovanie Santiago in a disputed decision atop a February 2021 Showtime card. That bout was his first after a January 2019 defeat to Manny Pacquiao which extended a three-fight winless streak.
Broner has won major titles at 130, 135, 140 and 147. However, he has not fought at that level since the January 2019 defeat to Pacquiao.
The past several months has seen Cincinnati’s Broner—who now trains in South Florida—call out virtually every fighter at 140 and 147. An instant rivalry was created once Cobbs signed with DKP earlier this year.
Rather than create separate showcase bouts, a decision was made to instead proceed with a head-on collision.
Cobbs (16-1-1, 10 KOs) will end a nearly two-year hiatus. The outspoken welterweight was last seen in an August 2022 points win over former WBO 140-pound titleholder Maurice Hooker in Fort Worth, Texas. The victory came five months after his lone defeat, a March 2022 ninth-round stoppage to Alexis Rocha in Los Angeles.
The win over Hooker was Cobbs’ last fight under Golden Boy Promotions, who chose not to resign him.
The Las Vegas-based boxer spent more than a year playing the free agent market. He eventually landed a deal with DKP, with the clear intention to face Broner.
A cruiserweight title fight and an intriguing heavyweight matchup will grace the undercard.
Noel Mikaeljan, (27-2, 12 KOs), DKP’s lone major titlist, will defend his WBC cruiserweight belt versus Canada’s Ryan Rozicki. Mikaeljan knocked out former champ Ilunga Makabu to win the vacant title last November 4 in Miami.
Rozicki (20-1, 19 KOs) has won seven in a row since an October 2021 defeat to Oscar Rivas. The 29-year-old dropped a competitive and entertaining points loss to Rivas in the inaugural WBC Bridgerweight title fight.
Among the seven wins are five consecutive knockouts, as Rozicki fights outside of Canada for the first time.
Mikaeljan is rated No. 3 at 200 by The Ring.
In heavyweight action, Cassius Chaney and Michael Hunter II meet in a bout between WBA top ten-ranked contenders.
Chaney (23-1, 16 KOs) was previously in talks with Martin Bakole for an ordered title eliminator. There were drastically varying takes on the bout’s progress, which is very clearly no longer in play.
This bout comes on the heels of Chaney’s biggest win to date. He scored a highlight reel, seventh-round knockout of former secondary titlist Trevor Bryan on King’s show last November 4.
Hunter (22-1-2, 16 KOs) is officially unbeaten in his last twelve starts (10-0-2 over that period). However, he was outboxed by Russia’s Artem Suslenkov over ten rounds on April 14 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The bout came on an IBA-sanctioned show. The results don’t count against fighters’ pro records given the absence of a presiding commission.
Six more slots on the show—nine in total—were confirmed by DKP. However, all but one only feature the A-side.
Former two-time cruiserweight titlist Yuniel Dorticos (26-2, 24 KOs) aims to extend his current two-fight win streak. An opponent was not named for the Miami-based, Cuban knockout artist. His stablemate, Yoenli Hernandez (3-0, 3 KOs) also appears in a middleweight bout versus an unnamed foe.
Rising middleweight Ian Green, light heavyweight Ahmed Elbiali and welterweight Tre’Sean Wiggns all appear in separate regional title fights.
Local welterweight southpaw De Von Williams (4-0, 4KOs) will face Atlanta’s Travis Floyd (1-7-2, 0 KOs) in a four-round contest.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.
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