?I never lie. I may not tell the truth, but I never lie.??Richie Giachetti
Tom Loeffler isn?t like most promoters. He?s not a crook. He?s not a twit. He?s not arrogant. He?s not a slob. And he is not, to quote the late George Kimball about a well-known New York promoter, in so few words and excuse my French, ?fucked up.?
Loeffler is a cool customer who plays his cards close to the vest. He understands that a promoter is not or should not be the main attraction, unlike his less developed peers. Nor has he gone after the press for being the recipient of less than glowing coverage, however obvious and well deserving that coverage might be.
But that has changed.
Because there is an alarming lack of standards in boxing journalism, which includes, among other things, writers who cannot write and writers who are secretly in promoters? pockets, maybe it was inevitable that sooner or later someone or other would get under Loeffler?s thick skin.
What got his goat is the false reporting regarding his relationship with Gennady Golovkin, which reportedly is on the rocks. And who did the reporting? The rumormongers who run roughshod over the truth while often eating themselves to death.
The main culprit is ESPN?s Dan Rafael. One might envy his position, however inexplicable, as the ultimate fanboy made good, but if it means having to be him, for even a minute, well, thanks but no thanks.
After reading Rafael?s misleading tweet regarding the ostensible split between Loeffler and Triple G, he lambasted Fat Dan with a tweet of his own.
?Dan, @GGGBoxing told me today that this is yellow journalism and not to say anything about him or his career without a direct quote from him or myself. Highly irresponsible to write something like this, people now using your tweet to write full articles based on false information.?
The need for the big scoop, to be the first out of the gate to get the information, or misinformation or disinformation, to the ADD-addled denizens of Twitter, is a tradition that inevitably flirts with irresponsibility.
Another rumormonger is Mark Ortega, a former wannabe standup comic who has written for PBC and Sporting News, and who was also taken to task by Loeffler.
?Mark, You are posting the same false information as other ?media?. Monkey see Monkey do. Check your #facts before posting or just call me. Ward lost 3 times when trying to breal his contract with his promoter. @ceegoose @TGBpromotions will be happy to remind you #boxing?
And last but not least, at least for the purposes of this article, is Mike Coppinger, who writes for RING magazine and PBC, but has also written for FOX and lowly Boxing Insider.
?Mike, stop your speculation on @GGGBoxing career and wait for some #news. Please don?t reference GGG personal life on social media, he keeps his family life completely separate. Show him some #respect and wait until we have something official to announce?
Whether any of the above journalists can write critically about those for whom they work depends upon whether they can think critically and have the guts to do so. Granted, being a rumormonger is better than being a fish- or whoremonger, but only just.
