Bullets, Boxing and Love: How Omaha Has Terence Crawford on the Verge of Stardom | News, Scores, Hig

Last year Terence Crawford (26-0, 18 KO), who defends his WBO Super Lightweight Championship against Dierry Jean on HBO Saturday night, found himself exactly where every professional boxer wants to be. After traveling to Scotland to take the world lightweight belt from local favorite Ricky Burns, he was finally being offered the chance to headline in America. Promoter Bob Arum had a lucrative offer in hand from a casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa, just minutes from Crawford's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

But Crawford was not having it.

"I'm from Omaha, Nebraska. I'm not from Council Bluffs," Crawford said. "That was the biggest thing. It's not that there's a rivalry or anything. But I wanted to fight in my hometown, and someplace in Iowa, even if it's next door, is not my hometown.

"I felt like my city deserves it. I've been boxing since I was seven years old, and I always said I was going to bring big things to Omaha. And that's what I've done."

Something about Crawford's passion for home gave Arum pause—and brought back memories of how things used to be, before the emergence of local casinos and their willingness to pay a flat fee to a promoter in exchange for a boxing extravaganza changed the boxing model. 

"It's kind of sad to me when you take these kids and they fight here, they fight there and they never really connect with anybody. And then a promoter will say 'they can't draw,'" Arum said. "People in college towns are loyal to their teams. And it's not much of a step to get that same loyalty and energy behind a prize fighter.

"It's what we did in the old days with guys like 'Marvelous' Marvin Hagler. We had him fight in his home area. Then, when he was ready for the real big time, he brought five or six thousand people with him from New England to Las Vegas to attend his events. That's the kind of following that you want."

Arum decided to take the gamble, eschewing the guaranteed money from casino interests and putting Crawford's future in the hands of his fellow Omahans. The city hadn't hosted a professional fight since a four-round bout at an amateur show in 2008. But with Crawford leading the way, it quickly became America's newest boxing hotbed.

Almost 11,000 fans packed the CenturyLink Center to see him dispatch Yuriorkis Gamboa in a thrilling back-and-forth battle, made all the better by the crowd's raucous enthusiasm for the hometown favorite.

"That's real promotion, and Top Rank has done a magnificent job with Terence. For the most part fighters from that region have found themselves playing the role of journeyman, fighting in other people's backyards. It was a real innovative choice to flip the model," HBO Vice President of Sports Programming Peter Nelson said. "Terence is looking to be to Omaha what the Red Sox are to Boston. And to be able to do that you have to show dedication to your turf.

"His fans really embrace that, that he hasn't forgotten where he comes from. A lot of people have proved their mettle in life after they've left Omaha, whether it's Marlon Brando or Gerald Ford. But few go out into the world, find their success and come back to Omaha. That's what Terence Crawford has done."

There's something special about Crawford's connection to his city. He often went to the ring with either "Omaha" or "Nebraska" on his trunks. He had a tumultuous life in the city's poverty-stricken projects, including a scrape over a dice game that left a bullet in his head just days before he was scheduled to make his first national television appearance on ESPN in 2008. 

It was a wake-up call for Crawford, a second chance to make something special of his life. 

“I shouldn't have been out there in the first place. I was supposed to be training for a fight but there I am out shooting dice and getting shot," Crawford told the Daily Mail in January 2014. "At first it didn’t scare me. I wanted revenge but my uncle and some other people spoke to me. I could have been dead but instead I was blessed."

Boxing saved Crawford. It took him off the streets and then brought him back, this time to make a difference.

"This is a kid who, in his spare time, is doing wonderful things," Arum said. "He's almost like an Omaha or Middle America version of Manny Pacquiao. His involvement in philanthropic ventures has been part of Pacquiao's appeal. It helps define his character. Soon people will realize that this kid, in his own way and in his own milieu, is comparable." 

Crawford has made two charitable trips to Africa, but much of his philanthropy is closer to home. Together with manager/trainer Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, he turned an old warehouse in his old stomping grounds of North Omaha into the nonprofit B+B Boxing Club, giving local kids a chance to escape the street life that caught him in its grasp. 

"We both grew up in the same neighborhood. Struggling," Crawford said. "We wanted to take boxing and put it right in the neighborhood so kids don't have to worry about finding a ride downtown and who is going to take them. They can walk to the gym and walk back home. It's in a neighborhood with five schools. It gives kids something to do after school besides get in trouble. They can stay off the streets and away from drugs and gangs and those sorts of things."

It's ventures like this, and his plan to raise $1.2 million to expand the project further, that make Crawford such a special figure in Omaha, bringing both regular citizens and billionaire Warren Buffet out for a night at the fights. The same passion has driven success in the ring. A win over Jean on Saturday, in fact, could propel Crawford past Amir Khan and even mentor Timothy Bradley and right into a life-changing fight with Pacquiao.

"The original pay-per-view is paying money for a ticket to watch a fight live. The best indicator of who is going to be able to take those steps is whether people are willing to show up and buy tickets to their fights," HBO's Nelson said. "When you have an epicenter, like Omaha is for Crawford, it starts there and you see it radiate out. The prestige factor is there. The skill is there. It augers well for what is going to come for him.

"He's got a unique charisma and dedication to craft that only the best fighters have. Terence embraces the stage. He likes the spotlight and the spotlight likes him. He's grateful to be from Omaha, and the people of Omaha are grateful he's brought his talents back there. That's a story people can connect to. It's not one that is solely for Omaha."

Jonathan Snowden covers combat sports for Bleacher Report.

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