Terence “Bud” Crawford was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraksa. He began boxing at age seven after getting into numerous fights with other kids in the neighborhood. Carl Washington, who owned the C.W. Boxing Club, and was Crawford’s neighbor invited him to come to the gym. Crawford later learned that his father, grandfather, and uncle all worked out at the C.W. Boxing Club.

In September of 2008, just two weeks before Crawford was supposed to appear on ESPN, he was grazed in the head by a bullet after a neighborhood dice game turned heated. He admitted the incident provided a much-needed wakeup call.