RIP Longtime Boxing & UFC Journalist Thomas Gerbasi

We spent about an hour on the phone, and he gave me some great advice and led me down the right path. Over the years, we would talk on the phone, catch up, and he would check in to see what I had going on. When it came to getting opportunities to write for the RING magazine and ProBox, Tom was the one who co-signed for me, and that was enough for those in charge to give me a shot. I never took that co-sign for granted as I knew he was putting his reputation on the line for my benefit. That was Tom Gerbasi. That was the man he was on the professional side.

On the personal side of things, I got to know Tom more in the last few years, and the things he loved aside from his wife were his granddaughter, a good restaurant, running, and playing goalie. He loved spending time with his wife and sharing pictures of the places they went for lunch and dinner. When it came to his granddaughter, he was a huge teddy bear. Tom and I would often discuss different kids’ shows we could attend, since his granddaughter and my son are around the same age. You had two grown men discussing Danny Go! and Blippi, which was pretty funny.

I laugh at those moments and enjoy thinking about them. Aside from that, he played soccer almost every day (at least it seemed that way), and whenever a marathon came up, he would participate in it. Not because he was trying to win it all, but because he wanted to show that he could accomplish something that many wouldn’t even attempt.

Tom began writing for my site, FightsATW, a little over a year ago, and his focus was features on wrestlers and wrestling as a whole. Tom would write features on independent wrestlers who were working their way up, and he gave them the attention of a star. He would put 100% effort into every piece, and it was appreciated by everyone involved. That was Tom; always willing to lend a hand to help others reach their goals.

My last conversation with Tom was on Wednesday, where I showed him a picture of his book, “The 100 Greatest Fighters,” at a Canelo-Crawford media event. He told me, “Yea, Dana (White) bought 100 of them.” We started to talk about other stuff, but it was nice to see him get his due and receive the support he deserved. Speaking of his just due, in April, he received the highest award a boxing journalist could receive, and that’s the “Nat Fleischer Award: Excellence in Boxing Journalism.” It brings a smile to my face that, before he passed, Tom got his “flowers” from the sport he dedicated so many years to while he could still smell them.

Tom had an impact on many, and it showed as comments began to pour in for Tom as news broke out of his passing. This one in particular is from veteran journalist Michael Woods, who goes a lot further back with Tom than I did.

If there was a bad word said about Tom Gerbasi, I am unaware. This death has me thinking of the old “only the good die young” adage. 

Tom was my era, and has to be saluted, because with his passing, we lost someone and something we won’t see again. Gerbasi was a writer/reporter, he came of age soaking up a style that is throwback. In an age where we are encouraged to be facing the camera and opining, he stayed in his lane. That meant being thorough, patient and respectful toward his subject. It meant that he listened more than he spoke. That is a rarity these days. 

I looked into my gmail, to see when I met and got to know Tom. I cracked up because his email was Mindspring. I still have my AOL account. He helped run Maxboxing, and I did a stint there, so we spoke about things in common, living in NY, having kids, the changing of the makeup of journalism. Also, he was a big boy, like me, so we would chuckle about that. Not a drama guy, as you can tell by the outpouring of sentiment. Solid dude, not one to get into petty professional squabbles. 

I share this note from Tom on March 14, 2014. The BWAA hierarchy discussed membership entry qualifications. Tom said (excerpt): 

“While this is a professional organization, the current climate means that several eligible applicants may very well be working for free. I have no problem with this and don’t care about the existence or size of an applicant’s paycheck. What I do care about is the professionalism of the work. If you’ve never covered a fight live, if you’ve never had to work on deadline, if you’ve never been to a boxing gym and talked to people around the sport, or if you’ve never done an interview, you’re automatically not getting my vote. And we’ve had countless people apply who fit this description in one way, shape, or form.

“Don’t get me wrong, if not for the internet, I’d probably still be cleaning toilets, but when people like me, Dougie, and Cliff came up, we respected the craft and acted accordingly. We didn’t spend more time tweeting than writing or reporting. We worked. My first story for HouseofBoxing.com, I wrote up a Lou Savarese conference call. I put “I think…” in the story. Mike Katz called me up 30 seconds after that story went live and said “No one gives a f*ck what you think.” And then he hung up. But he made his point.

“A lot of our applicants don’t have that heavy hand and tough love guiding them in their work. They think because they’ve seen a few hundred fights on YouTube that they’re journalists. They’re not. But this is what we’re being handed, and when we don’t let someone in, we get blasted on social media for it. Everyone on this email knows exactly what I’m talking about, and we’ve all paid our dues. Let’s keep the highest standards and not give in to those who feel that because they’ve written 800 opinion columns that they deserve to be in the BWAA.”

As Katz would say “no one gives a f*ck what you think.”

They sure did give a f*ck what Tom wrote, and respect his standards and output. I would spend more time on this, trying to do it justice, but this hits a little too close. Tom didn’t get to 60 but he got stuff done, his legacy is secure, as a sports journalist. Same goes for him as a human being. RIP, Tom. 

The Boxing World Mourns The Death of A Great Man

Tom touched many hearts and minds through both personal interaction and his writing. RIP Tom Gerbasi. You will certainly be missed. Here are some tweets by people from the boxing world on X.