The boxing business is not for the faint-hearted, and people involved in the sport—trainers, managers, fighters, and even promoters—come and go with every year that passes. It’s hard to battle through all the politics and the ever-changing climate to make it five, ten, fifteen or more years. One promoter has found a way to survive through it all and is in a good position to elevate even more in years to come: Tom Loeffler. Although his personal story will one day be written in the form of a book, his company, 360 Promotions, which is the latest chapter of his career, continues to thrive while being distributed by UFC Fight Pass. With social media being so invested in promotional companies to the point where they defend them, it is good to understand how 360 Promotions started, where they are today, and what’s in store for the future.
The Inception of 360 Promotions
Before Loeffler could put on his promoter hat, he spent ten years as a manager working for the likes of Kevin Kelley, Obar Carr, James Toney, and Sugar Shane Mosley. He also worked with heavyweight Ed Mahone, which is how he met the Klitschko brothers in 1999. He had Mahone challenge Vitali Klitschko for the WBO heavyweight title. After Klitschko stopped Mahone, Loeffler invited him to Los Angeles, CA, where he would meet his idol Muhammad Ali. At the time, Loeffler’s partner Harlan Warner was representing Ali in appearances, licensing deals, etc., so six months after the fight, Klitschko would meet Ali.
Afterward, Klitschko’s son was born, and he stayed in the L.A. area for three months. During that time, he had lunch with Loeffler and kept in contact. Klitschko was unhappy with his German promoter (Klaus-Peter Kohl), so that’s when Loeffler pitched the idea to Klitschko about starting a promotional company, which birthed the idea of K2 Promotions. When Klitschko severed ties with his German promoter, Loeffler and the Klitschko brothers would officially launch K2 Promotions.
“We did our very first show in 2004. At that time, it was the Staples Center, which was a brand new arena (now Crypto.com Arena). As you can imagine, the very first show was a WBC heavyweight championship fight on HBO. I was telling Vitali that it was important to do it here in Los Angeles to build his fan base, and sure enough, he became a star here.” Since 2004, Loeffler promoted all of the Klitschko brothers’ fights and would host the most heavyweight title fights of any promoter in this century.
With all the success gained from the Klitschko brothers’ partnership, Loeffler looked to expand the company. He had a mutual friend who knew Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin before he came to the U.S. and became a star. At the time, Golovkin was unhappy with the same German promoter with which Vitali Klitschko had issues. Golovkin would start training with Abel Sanchez at Big Bear, CA, and since Loeffler is Sanchez’s friend, he met GGG in 2010. Once Golovkin got out of his contract, Loeffler started to look for opponents to match him up with. One of those fights was as a co-feature under Wladimir Klitschko at a 50,000-seat soccer stadium, which would not come to fruition.
“That was a really interesting story. Wladimir Klitschko was going to headline a 50,000-seat soccer stadium in Germany for one of his heavyweight championship defenses. It was in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Wladimir, the week of the fight, on that Sunday, had a kidney stone. It was really painful, and [he] needed to have it removed and couldn’t fight. So, we went from a 50,000-seat soccer stadium to literally a 500-seat ballroom at our host hotel in Dusseldorf, Germany, where GGG defended his WBA title at the time.”
While GGG was having success and K2 Promotions was hitting on all cylinders with their shows, Loeffler would host an event on HBO that will be remembered throughout the sport’s history: The “Super-Fly” series. It was an event that showcased the best super flyweights in the world, shedding light on a division that had been grossly ignored for years. The shows would be centered on boxing great Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez, who was already a fan favorite, as the co-feature to four GGG events. “Being able to shine the spotlight on the lower weight divisions that were pretty much overlooked at the time by the mainstream media and boxing fans was a really fulfilling experience. Chocolatito became a star over here. He was always a great fighter, but with the HBO platform, he really became a star.”
Loeffler saw that his stars were older, and their prime window was much shorter, so he wanted to start a company that developed young talent. In 2017, he started 360 Promotions. The goal was to do local level shows in order to give young fighters a platform to showcase their talents. Loeffler would then develop a “Hollywood Fight Nights” series held at Club Avalon in Hollywood, CA. Due to the location, it was an event that would always be attended by actors, athletes, and celebrities, which made it feel like a main show you would watch on the weekend instead of a club show on a weekday. Loeffler was fresh off a highly desired Super-Fly series to now doing these Hollywood Fight Night shows, bringing even more notoriety to his company and brand.
The Unexpected Detour That Led To Something Bigger
Things were going well with 360 Promotions until the world was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic. There were no sporting events for months, and boxing took a big hit. Loeffler and other smaller show promoters were in a bind and had to figure something out. Loeffler’s time away would extend past the moment things went back to “normal” as he tried to figure out how to write the next chapter of his company.
“When COVID hit, we did have to take a break. I remember we had a show scheduled. It was actually a St. Patrick’s Day and when COVID hit, we had to shut everything down. I didn’t have the TV deal with UFC Fight Pass at the time. It was about a year later when we moved to a different venue that had a big outdoor patio. They were able to open the doors, so naturally, everyone at that time was concerned about ventilation, the virus, and everything like that. But it worked out well.”
That was Loeffler’s cue to start back up again, and those who had attended his previous shows before COVID began to come back around. Although Loeffler was back, he had bigger plans, and a visit by Dana White to one of his shows turned into a distribution deal with UFC Fight Pass for 360 Promotions events. Loeffler was now back to working with a major platform and getting his fighters the type of exposure that could make them future stars. The only thing missing was that centerpiece that he had with Chocolatito and the Super-Fly series. Loeffler chose junior middleweight Callum Walsh (11-0, 9 KOs) to carry the 360 Promotions flag into the future.
360 Promotions In 2024
Loeffler knows how to build star fighters, as his reputation for doing so is well-known throughout the industry. It’s no surprise that the 23-year-old Walsh is heading in that direction. UFC Boss Dana White has taken a liking to him, and all the resources attached to him have helped make Walsh known in many different places outside of boxing. The only thing left was for him to perform, and Walsh has done that with entertaining fights and knockouts. So how did Loeffler meet the man who will take 360 Promotions to new heights?
“We knew Callum from the Wild Card Gym, and he had come over here with a good amateur career. He was a European gold medalist and a six-time Irish National Champion, so he had a very solid foundation in the amateurs. The story goes, he was training here during the pandemic and showed up at the Wild Card Gym one day. He showed up, and Freddie [Roach] told him, ‘You know, if you want to train here, you have to spar the very first day.’ Callum had only been fighting three rounds as an amateur, and on the first day, Freddie had Callum sparring six rounds with seasoned professionals. It was kind of trial by fire where Callum did really well, and Freddie gave his blessing and said ‘Okay, kid, you can come back the next day.’ When I talked to Freddie, he said look, this kid is special and has something. He’s a big puncher, a southpaw with great amateur experience and fast hands.”
Walsh would debut in 2021 and step into the ring four times in 2022 & 2023. This year, Walsh stopped Dauren Yeleussinov in March and, in front of a sold-out crowd at the Chumash Casino in June, stopped Carlos Ortiz in just two rounds. Walsh continues to thrive with every veteran that is put in front of him. Outside of his performances in the ring, he has appeared at UFC events and was highlighted at a recent WWE Monday Night RAW show. That, along with what he’s done in the ring, has led to Walsh being one of the most recognized young fighters in boxing. The next stop will be a homecoming in Ireland later this year that is being planned right now, which will serve as a full circle moment for the young junior middleweight.
The Future
Regarding the rest of the year and the future of 360 Promotions, things look bright, and Loeffler isn’t taking his foot off the pedal.
“We pretty much planted our flag as the leading promoter in California, specifically Southern California. We’re going to do four more fights this year, so we’re doing eight televised shows in the Southern California area, which is the most of any promoter in Southern California. Dana White wants to go to Ireland with Callum Walsh in the fall so we’ll have a few more shows at Commerce Casino and Chumash Casino this year. They’ll be announced throughout the year, and then next year, we’re just going to build on that success because we had the highest-rated show in UFC Fight Pass history. The boxing show was Callum Walsh’s St. Patrick’s Day fight on March 15. We had the 18th highest gate in the theater’s history so that was a real big statement for Callum fighting there at Madison Square Garden. We’ll make that an annual event for Callum every St. Patrick’s Day so the boxing fans, especially the New York and Irish boxing fans, can put that on their calendar: next year, March, St. Patrick’s Day 2025.”
Loeffler continues to do big things with a small promotion company that should only be able to achieve so much. Along with Walsh, Loeffler has WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk, Karlos Balderas, Daniel Barrera, Cain Sandoval, Omar Trinidad, and a slew of other young fighters waiting to show the world their talents. He also has great relationships with all of the other promoters in boxing which doesn’t allow the politics to get in the way. As 360 Promotions finishes its sixth year of putting on shows, Loeffler’s vision will not only see his company grow even higher but also breed a new crop of future champions that will gain the attention of fight fans worldwide.
Discover more from Fights Around The World
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
