Bud Hangs Up the Gloves

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
One night, about fifteen years ago, there was a dice
game in somebody's house in North Omaha. One of the
dudes won a wad of cash, counting the bills. The
loser fired a nine millimeters shot through the back window
of the winners nineteen eighty six. Potiac Gray's the guy's
skull not that uncommon for the dude. He was kind

(00:20):
of a bad dude, ran with equally bad dudes. Figured
the brightest thing in his future was parole, but he
found his way out. The winner of that dice game
that night was Terrence Bud Crawford. And maybe it was
the bullet missing the target by an inch that compelled
Bud to change his life and my has he Bud

(00:41):
only became the greatest boxer in the world. He won
championships in four divisions. He fought professionally forty two times
and won them all. He is not only the greatest
boxer of his time, he might well be the greatest
of all time. It's taken a lot of work to
scrub the old Bud into the shiny new model that
we know today. His old ways led to being blackballed.

(01:03):
Biamateur boxing kept off the US Olympic team when the
USOC got spooked over Bud's falling out with the USA
boxing team. Bud still thinks politics stole a national Golden
Gloves title. Bud was Omaha really proud of him? Were
we glad he was ours? And the answer is yes.
He retired from boxing last night. For a long time,

(01:24):
I'm not sure he was on the list. You know
the list Omaha's sports legends, a list, the Gibsons, the Boozers,
the Sayers, the Goodman's, the Rogerses and the Crouches list.
But he got a street on Larrymore between thirty first
and thirty third, that stretch where he grew up. And
it's time now for a statue placed where we can

(01:45):
all walk past it and puff up a little bit.
Think about it. He's as Nebraska as tom Osburn the
superstar next door. He's pretty quiet, just one wife, always
home with the kids. Not too many commercials or endorsements.
But there's Bud at the Husker and Creighton games, wherein
are colors. Bud is big in the hood outside of

(02:06):
the Butler gast Ymca kids counted the minutes to Bud's
next fight and then stayed up way too late just
to watch it. At the Salvation Army Center. Inside, young
Crawford wannabees learned to punch under giant posters of the
champ but Crawford remains amazingly unknown. Bought a family membership
at the y a couple of years ago. First time

(02:28):
the Crawfords, including Bud and Mom and their six kids, arrived,
the receptionist insisted that Bud show his membership card and
picture id the best in the world and they don't
even know you. At the neighborhood rec Center. As a kid,
Bud packed a punch. He was big trouble. Went to
five ops schools, some of them under the label alternative school,

(02:51):
which is code for this is where bad kids go
to class. By all accounts, the adult Bud, though, is
a great dad, six kids, one baby mom. He's home
all the time and when the kids are in school,
Bud monitors a business portfolio that includes digital marketing, fantasy sports,
E gaming and cryptocurrency. After work, he swings by the
B and B Boxing Academy on thirtieth in Sprague. It's

(03:14):
the non profit gym Bud built for all the little
Bud Crawfords. Of today, who also have a lot of
anger packed inside, but here they can channel it positively.
He is the only multiple world champion in four weight classes,
including the WBO welterweight division. He's also one of only
five mail boxers in history to hold all four major

(03:35):
world titles in boxing simultaneously. He retires as the greatest
boxer on earth for a reason. His work ethic is
world class. He earned over one hundred million in the
ring and didn't blow it. He saved it, invested it,
is now sharing it. His entourage is small, very few
of his old running mates, just smart professionals who work

(03:59):
for Bud, not because of Bud. The kind of stuff
that gets you on that list. Bud Crawford isn't just
on it, he tops it. And the view from up
there is spectacular.