The first time Tom Loeffler watched boxing, he was managing one of the fighters.
?That wasn?t the plan,? he said.
Now he?s waist-deep in the asylum. So far he?s not an inmate.
Loeffler is a lanky, quiet fellow, a no-drama show who blends into the ringside scene. He speaks softly without a big shtick .
He has made 112 and 115-pounders safe for cable television,with his Superfly cards at StubHub Center and The Forum. On Tuesday night he is starting a Hollywood Boxing series at the Avalon, right near Hollywood and Vine.
His headliners are Ryan ?Blue Chip? Martin, an undefeated lightweight from Chattanooga, Tenn., and Brian Ceballo, a promising welterweight from New York. Spectators will be close enough to hear the footwork.
The goal is to make boxers familiar before they become famous, similar to Oscar De La Hoya?s Belasco Theater cards..
On the promotional battlefield, Loeffler is sort of a DMZ. He can deal with Bob Arum?s Top Rank and De La Hoya?s Golden Boy Promotions, even Al Haymon?s Premier Boxing Champions.
?It?s a tough business,? Loeffler said the other day at Gennady Golovkin?s Big Bear Lake camp.
?I?ve dealt with every promoter, all over the world. I have a strategy for every boxer we work with. Don?t just sign up a bunch of boxers and then try to figure out what to do with them.?
Loeffler?s tranquility is being tested.
Golovkin is building toward a May 5 rematch with Canelo Alvarez, the main event of 2018. But when Canelo flunked two drug tests in February, ones that showed trace amounts of clenbuterol, Loeffler?s camp reacted aggressively.
Golovkin called Canelo a drug cheat and ridiculed his claim that he had eaten contaminated Mexican beef.
Trainer Abel Sanchez openly talked of an alternative fight with middleweight Billy Joe Saunders. And they all questioned the objectivity of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, for whom Canelo is an impressive cash cow, so to speak.
Three days later, the commission temporarily suspended Canelo, a cosmetic move that sets up a hearing on April 10. Canelo will testify in person or via telephone. That will determine whether the fight happens in 2018. But a long suspension for Canelo would shadow him forever.
And, of course, none of this hurts interest and pay-per-view sales for the fight, whenever it happens.
Loeffler knew success before Golovkin. He managed former lightweight champ Kevin Kelley and welterweight Oba Carr, and then heavyweight named Ed Mahone , who lost in three rounds to WBO champ Vitali Klitschko in Germany, 19 years ago. Loeffler established relationships with Klitschko?s camp.
Loeffler is an El Camino High and CSUN grad who was in commercial real estate, expanding his father John?s business. He had teamed with Harlan Werner, who was raising money for retired fighters. When Klitschko came to Los Angeles, Loeffler and Werner introduced him to Muhammad Ali, and Klitschko stayed for two months. His son was born at Cedars Sinai.
Klitschko mentioned that he was unhappy with his management in Germany, so Loeffler took over. Vitali?s brother ladimir soon followed. Loeffler then established K2 promotions and the Klitschkos held five titles and dominated the heavyweight division for decades. Vitali is now the mayor of Kiev, the Ukranian capital.
It helped that Loeffler speaks German. His parents are Germans, and Loeffler learned from his grandparents, during his annual visits overseas.
Golovkin noticed the Klitschkos? success this and signed with Loeffler when he ditched his own promoter.
?He was a silver medalist in the Olympics, a big puncher,? Loeffler said. ?We went to HBO and said, ?Look, this guy doesn?t care who he fights. He?ll fight anyone from 154 (pounds) to 168, and doesn?t even insist on the big money.? They hadn?t heard that very often.?
Peter Nelson, now the head of HBO Boxing, took up the cause and Golovkin wound up against Grzegorz Proska in September of 2012. ?Exactly the wrong kind of guy, an experienced southpaw, and we took reduced money,? Loeffler said.
Golovkin floored Proksa three times. ?After that he was must-see TV,? Loeffler said.
Meanwhile, Roman ?Chocolatito? Gonzalez was the best flyweight in the world and perhaps the best boxer. Few Americans knew it until he began fighting on Golovkin?s undercards and then got his own main events at The Forum and StubHub.
?He had the second-biggest crowd at StubHub next to Gennady,? Loeffler said. ?A lot of people didn?t think you could get those crowds for a flyweight from Nicaragua.?
A lot of people still think boxing is headed downhill without brakes. The skepticism doubles when drug tests go wrong. Much depends on whether GGG-Canelo 2 will turn out like the original, last September: Rare, but well done.
