Serhii Bohachuk had a highly productive and lucrative 2024 campaign that saw him battle the likes of Brian Mendoza (W12), Vergil Oritz (L12) and Ishmael Davis (KO6). The exposure was world-wide, and the money was good. Bohachuk established himself as a leading junior middleweight contender.
To kick off his 2025, he goes back to his roots as he headlines a UFC Fight Pass show this Saturday at the Commerce Casino, as he faces Mykal Fox. This bout is not about the money, but really the activity.
So the question has to be asked, was it a battle to convince a fighter and his management to accept an assignment of this nature?
"It wasn't because Bohachuk understands that value of being busy," explained Tom Loeffler, the head of '360 Promotions', which handles his career. "Manny Robles, his trainer, understands the value of staying active. It's not an easy fight for him, Mykal Fox is coming to win that fight. He's a tall southpaw, and it'll be great to have Bohachuk back here in L.A. where he lives and trains.
"It'll be great for the L.A. fans, it'll set up a bigger fight in the fall. But you can never underestimate someone like Fox, especially since (Bohachuk) is in the rankings and a mandatory challenger. He's got a lot to lose but at the same time it doesn't make sense for him to sit out of the ring and training till a bigger fight comes up."
The hope is that the fan-friendly Bohachuk lands a significant bout in the second half of the year.
"If you think he beat Vergil Ortiz like he did, then he's at the top of the division. The great thing about Serhii Bohachuk is that he's never in a boring fight. If he fights a rematch with Ortiz, if he fights Bakhram Murtazaliev (IBF champion), if he fights anyone of those guys at 154, it's going to be an exciting fight," stated Loefler, who points out that he is rated first by the WBC, whose full title is held by Sebastian Fundora.
Golden Boy Promotions
"Serhii just wants to prove he's the best,'' Loeffer continued. "He's not asking for a zillion dollars, and not fighting till he gets it."
During his rise as a prospect, Bohachuk was featured by 360 Promotions in cards held at the Avalon, the Quiet Cannon and the Chumash Casino. He has steadily developed and moved up the rankings during this process. This was the mission statement as Loeffler began this series on 'UFC Fight Pass'. It has gained the attention of managers who are looking to place their boxers with a promoter.
"They see what we've done with Callum Walsh, they see what we've done with Serhii Bohachuk, who grew up on 'Fight Pass'. I think with Callum, 13-0, with 11 knockouts, he headlined the MSG Theater three times, he headlined the 3Arena in Dublin. They see the leaps and bounds he's taken," said Loeffler, who was the architect of the rise of Gennadiy Golovkin.
Consistent dates means consistent work for boxers. They may not necessarily pay the most, but there is a plan in place for a fighter to develop and eventually earn the bigger paydays. "They see the value of what we're doing, for sure," said Loeffler, who will have Walsh headlining at the Chumash Casino on June 21.
Developing boxers and ticket sellers is a specialty of his. Loeffler started 360 Promotions with the vision of creating more stars like Golovkin. After his retirement from the ring, the resourceful Loeffler didn't have to necessarily start over, but it was a different business model.
He admits, "It's a lot different program. 'Triple G' would fight two or three huge fights per year. We'd have the HBO backing, HBO Pay-Per-View, put on monster shows at the Garden, T-Mobile or the Forum, out here. But this is a series where we're developing young fighters, giving them a lot of attention. The 'UFC Fight Pass' gives them global attention, whenever the UFC social media platform promotes a fight, it's like gold in terms of the value with publicity.
Tom Loeffler
"It's a lot harder of a dynamic, it's harder to make the matches because we don't have the same budget that we did on HBO where you could over-pay your opponents to fight on a show. But it's fun developing the next generation of champions."
3KR
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