IN REMEMBRANCE OF OUR FRIEND, TOM GERBASI
had the job and was packing his bags for Las Vegas. “It was Tom who really opened a key door that created an incredible pathway for the rest of my development as a sports professional,” said Sholler, now in a high-profile corporate role under Josh Harris’ ownership of the Commanders and 76ers. “It’s not overstating it when I say I am not where I am without TG. I’m not here without his mentorship, his support and his guidance. “When I think about Tom, one word comes to mind: dependability. As I rose through the ranks and reached the UFC, he was always there for us, regardless of the time of day. When I got a chance to make the move back to the East Coast and work for the childhood team I grew up rooting for [the 76ers], Tom was the first person I called. I remember Tom telling me, ‘It’s OK to have more than one dream, and it’s OK to chase those dreams. Go chase your next dream.’ Those words were so important to me. That was Tom to a T. He knew what to say and when to say it.” Thomas Hauser, the Hall of Fame author and journalist, met Tom in 2000 when he joined the House of Boxing, the pioneering website founded in the late ’90s by Gary Randall and Ring Editor- in-Chief Doug Fischer. Shortly after HOB was bought by entrepreneurial sports agent Marc Roberts in late 1999, Gerbasi, Hauser and legendary boxing columnist Michael Katz were added to the staff. However, when the HOB finances dried up, Randall, Fischer,
Gerbasi and staff writer Steve Kim started MaxBoxing.com in 2001. “Tom was one of those rare people who everybody liked, and no one had a bad word to say about,” Hauser said. “Tom also had character, and Tom wasn’t a good guy, he was a great guy. He did two things really well, as a reliable reporter and his greatest strength was a good ear for quotes. He was a good, reliable reporter with a great rapport with fighters.” It is not easy to get athletes to commit to an interview. Everyone loved Gerbasi. Including fighters. It did not matter if they were MMA
Felix Trinidad fought Ricardo Mayorga in October 2004. “I would have this melancholy feeling after fights, not because the fight was over, but because I was leaving Tom,” Richardson said. “I told Sonia about a special story. During COVID, in the summer of 2020, we had no power in the middle of August. I had a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old. Sure enough, Tom offered up his house for me and the kids. I was so touched by that. But that was Tom. It underlines just who Tom was. “I can hear him now: ‘Richardson, what are you doing crying over me!’ Tom never talked trash on anyone. And something you never heard was anyone talking trash on Tom. That’s rare in boxing.” Fischer met Gerbasi online in the 1990s, when Gerbasi was doing public relations work for a female fighter named Leah Mellinger. Gerbasi pitched Fischer a freelance story on Mellinger, when women’s boxing was at a different stage than it is today. Gerbasi was so engaging and fun that he talked Fischer into it. It started a 25-plus-year relationship. “Tom always had a story, and he would preface a story by saying, ‘Ya want to laugh,’” Fischer recalled. “In
“Tom always had a story, and he would preface a story by saying, ‘Ya want to laugh.’”
1999, when Roberts bought House of Boxing, one of the first things we did was hire Tom to be a regular writer in New York City, even though we had Thomas Hauser and Michael Katz. They were columnists, and we needed someone on the front lines, and that was Tom. “Tom was also a great copy editor. We bonded over our love of boxing history and [the shared frustrations of] copy editing. Tom was integral to House of Boxing, and equally integral to MaxBoxing. Those websites would not have worked without Tom. With our personalities and egos, we were always clashing, and Tom was always above the internal bickering. (laughs) Tom would call himself ‘the bartender.’ He was the adult in our room. Katz’s ego was larger than all our egos combined – and Tom was able to manage Katz. For me, Gary and Steve, Tom was like our big brother. We knew
when Tom said something, it was from a good place.” Lisa McClellan, sister of former WBC and WBO middleweight titleholder Gerald “G-Man” McClellan, came in contact with Tom in 2002, when Teddy Blackburn won the BWAA Good Guy Award for his work with Gerald, who lives with the effects of a severe brain injury from his 1995 fight against Nigel Benn. Lisa and Gerald were traveling by train to the BWAA awards dinner in New York, and Gerbasi arranged to meet them midway in order to do a story on the siblings. Gerbasi came on the train as a stranger and left as a family friend. “Tom left from New York to meet us, and he probably rode 10, 12 hours with us,” Lisa recalled. “He became family. That is how close we came through the years. Sonia called me to tell me Tom had passed. That was hard to hear. Tom was always with us. He always cared about
fighters or boxers. Fighters never felt like they were being interrogated when they spoke to Gerbasi. He worked in the fast-paced world of the UFC, had considerable contributions as a pioneer of internet boxing coverage, and found time as a 57-year-old to play soccer with 20-somethings, cover roller derby, spend time with his family – and still chase his passion. Gerbasi possessed the rare combination of a caring nature, in a social media world where everyone just cares about themselves, and he also took his craft seriously. “One of the things that made Tom an invaluable member of our staffs at The Ring and at BoxingScene.com, and one
of the best dudes I’ve ever known, is that was he genuinely cared about people,” said Keith Idec, a Ring staff writer and member of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame. “That’s why he was universally liked, which is so rare in our business. “It’s also why it didn’t matter to him whether he wrote about the ‘A’ side of the main event or an unknown prospect on the undercard. Tom took a detailed, thoughtful approach to every feature he wrote because it always mattered to him to tell someone’s story accurately and thoroughly. “He took his craft seriously, but never himself. He had a fantastic sense of humor, was self-deprecating and never seemed to let the pressures and annoyances of the job get to him. He was such an easygoing, low- maintenance, reliable professional that he was the perfect teammate. In so many ways, we won’t be able to replace him.” Matt Richardson still writes about boxing, now for CBSNews.com. He sat with Tom many times at ringside, when Tom was with House of Boxing. They were two Staten Island guys who loved boxing writing in the nascent days of boxing on the internet. There were many occasions the two would be gripping each other’s forearms during titanic bouts, like when
the fighters. We bonded over our grandchildren. Tom’s sense of humor will stay with me. He was a part of our Ring of Brotherhood Foundation. I was always afraid when Tom was in our meetings, because he didn’t care what he said (laughs). “Tom cared about the guys no one else cared about it. That was Tom.” Our friend. Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow @JSantoliquito.
“When I think about Tom, one word comes to mind: dependability. As I rose through the ranks and reached the UFC, he was always there for us, regardless of the time of day.”
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