Cedric Cobbs Update

9/17/13

The lastest update on Cedric Cobbs is available by clicking here

Update 7/28/13

Editor’s Note: The word is Cedric Cobbs’ pro boxing debut didn’t end well. He lost the bout. We’re hearing he stopped the fight after the first round. WOW. Our source, who was working the fight, says Cobbs was done after the first round. Others are reporting he quit after the second round. Getting reliable information from this “fight” has been difficult.

Even more to the update from the editor: Sources close to Cobbs say he didn’t make it a full round sparring before taking a knee just one week ago. There are former football players who have boxed who tried to warn Cobbs he needed to get into a different kind of shape for boxing – not just working out.

This may explain why he threw in the towel for a defeat in his first pro fight. Or maybe he was doing all of this for fun – like a fraternity fight night or strongman competition.

The fight was scheduled as part of an evening to raise funds for anti-bullying efforts. Perhaps the organization has found a new poster boy.

And this most recent update from people close to Cobbs: He could no longer fight after the second round because of a stomach virus that kept him from eating solid food since Wednesday and caused him to rapidly drop 15 pounds. He went ahead and fought instead of backing out at the last minute. Cobbs will go into more serious training over the next six weeks and fight the same opponent in state. Certainly, we wish him well.

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Cedric Cobbs is still searching for his place in the professional sports world.

The former Arkansas Razorback running back star of the early 2000s, who spent a short time in NFL as New England Patriots draft pick and as a Denver Broncos free-agent signee, tried a comeback of sorts in football a few summers back when he had a brief stint with the indoor football Arkansas Twisters. Many folks didn’t know that the charismatic Cobbs also pursued another interest for a while: acting.

Count us among those didn’t see this latest venture coming, though.

The 32-year-old Cedric Cobbs, who appears to have worked himself back into the physical stature he commanded as a UA running back, will step into the professional boxing ring for the first time on Saturday in a Memphis suburb.

Cobbs is even being billed as the heavyweight “main event” on a night that features a handful or more of accomplished and seasoned fights from the region. Mid-South Boxing & MMA is putting on the bouts as a fund-raising benefit at the Bumpus Harley-Davidson location in Collierville, Tenn. General admission tickets are $35 and “VIP” tickets (which include food) are $50, with all proceeds benefit the boxing organization’s Anti-Bullying Program. Tickets are available in Little Rock at Wild Wear.

The program also includes a Memphis blues band performing between bouts and a silent auction that will include items from various sporting celebrities, including former boxing great Roy Jones Jr., a supporter of the Anti-Bullying Program.

Jones manages one of the boxers on the Saturday card, a west Tennessee welterweight named Malcolm “Da Dream” Terry Jr.

Other accomplished fighters competing will be “Pistol” Paul Gutierrez, a former Navy welterweight champion looking for his fourth pro win; Little Rock’s own Alvin Manley in the heavyweight category; Memphis lightweight Deadrick Bell, who will be seeking the Mid-South Regional lightweight title; and current Mid-South heavyweight titlist Curtis Tate.

Cobbs delivered knockout punches of a sort as a Razorback running back, earning Cotton Bowl most valuable player honors as a freshman in the Hogs’ 27-6 whopping of Texas on Jan. 1, 2000. He dealt with an assortment of injuries beginning with a separated shoulder during his sophomore year, but returned to top form by his fifth-year senior campaign when he rushed for more than 1,000 yards as the Hogs went 9-4.

Cobbs earned a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots in 2005 but didn’t last in New England. He only saw the field for two games as a Bronco.

But early on in his career, which started as Little Rock Fair as a leader on a state championship team, Cobbs was always a load for one tackler — usually it took several to haul down the man with powerful thighs and amazing upper body strength. This scribe still remembers vividly the night he had six North Little Rock defenders all converging on him in a futile effort to ride him to the ground. Seconds later, Cobbs emerged from the pack, the tacklers were falling by the wayside, and he was sprinting to the end zone on a run of at least 60 yards.

In his prime, Cobbs could blaze 40 yards in 4.4 seconds or better with a 6-foot-2, 220-pound frame. Texas found him an unstoppable force in the fourth quarter of that famed Cotton Bowl win for Arkansas. His efforts to bulk up to Sherman tank size in succeeding seasons at Fayetteville seemed to work against Cobbs, who still finished his college career with more than 3,000 rushing yards, third best all-time at Arkansas. He finished his Hog career as he started, earning Independence Bowl MVP honors with 141 yards on 27 carries in the Razorbacks’ 27-13 victory over Missouri.

The first fight is set for 7:30 p.m. Bumpus Harley-Davidson is at 325 Byhalia Road in Collierville.

Here are a few highlights of Cedric Cobbs from his days as a Razorback.

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Another “heavyweight” of sorts is coming to Little Rock in September.

The acclaimed veteran sportswriter Frank Deford will be the headlining attraction in a 40^th anniversary benefit night for KUAR and KLRE, the local nonprofit educational radio stations.

The chicken dinner, talk and book signing will be held at the Embassy Suites at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19. Tickets are $100.

The money raised will help purchase new sound boards and other equipment for the KUAR and KLRE control rooms.

Tickets will go on sale next week.