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JAMEL TOPPIN FOR FORBES. COVER: TERENCE CRAWFORD WEARS A FLANNEL SUIT BY TODD SNYDER, COTTON SHIRT BY ETON, POCKET SQUARE BY THOM SWEENEY AND LEATHER SHOES BY FERRAGAMO. WATCH: AUDEMARS PIGUET ROYAL OAK CHRONOGRAPH.
After toppling Canelo Álvarez in the fight of the year, the undefeated boxing champion has earned more than $100 million in the ring. Now 38, and with Warren Buffett in his corner, he is staring down the ultimate opponent—Father Time.
Just days before stepping into the ring for a career-defining showdown against Canelo Álvarez in Las Vegas, undefeated boxer Terence “Bud” Crawford was gifted a significant addition to his timepiece collection. WatchGuys, a luxury watch reseller, presented him with a $15,000 Rolex Submariner. What made this gift particularly bold was the engraving on the back, confidently predicting his record post-fight: 42-0, despite the looming challenge of facing one of boxing’s most formidable opponents.
“They believed in me so much that they knew I would win,” Crawford, now 38, recounted from within his own B&B Sports Academy in Omaha, Nebraska, following his unanimous decision victory. “I was certain [Álvarez] couldn’t beat me. There was nothing he could do that night to change the outcome.”
Crawford, typically reserved in demeanor, has allowed his prowess in the ring to speak volumes throughout his 17-year professional journey. His career boasts 31 knockouts, 18 world championship titles across five divisions, and three undisputed titles. By moving up two weight classes to conquer the favored Álvarez, he secured his legacy among the greats of his time, alongside legends like Manny Pacquiao and Oleksandr Usyk.
This daring decision to risk his perfect record against a significantly larger opponent also came with a substantial financial windfall, marking the most lucrative payday of his career. Forbes estimates his earnings that night reached an impressive $50 million, catapulting his total career earnings beyond $100 million.
Crawford remains prudent with his wealth, opting for strategic investments. He has ventured into the stock market and built a real estate portfolio exceeding $20 million in value, guided by the principle that “God isn’t making more land.” His watch collection, valued between $500,000 and $1 million by Forbes, includes prestigious pieces like a Patek Philippe Travel Time Aquanaut, an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph, and several Rolexes, which he views as appreciating assets rather than mere extravagances.
“With the money I’m making in the ring, there’s no need to rush into anything,” he reflects. “Some people like to take risks, but I prefer not to take risks that are beyond my control.”
“Making the money I’m making in the ring, I don’t need to rush anything,” he says. “Some people want to rush and take risk, and I’m not a big risk taker when I can’t control it.”
With agency over his finances, he’ll be damned if he lets a dollar go to waste. In his merchandise business, for example, Crawford once refused to spend an additional 99 cents to add a custom neck tag to a new line of T-shirts that cost $12 to make and sell for $40. And even though he generously picked up a $2,000 dinner tab for a group of 18 friends a couple months ago, he made sure to score a 15%-off coupon beforehand.
“He’s frugal,” says Crawford’s lifelong friend Steven Nelson, the head of operations at his gym. “He believes in spending money that makes sense.”
That’s one thing Crawford has in common with the wealthiest resident of his native Omaha, Warren Buffett. The chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is also famously financially prudent, living in the same house he bought in 1958 for $31,500, driving modest cars, eating at McDonald’s and using a flip phone despite his roughly $150 billion fortune.
Buffett has become a “huge admirer” of Crawford over the years and has attended several of his fights. The 95-year-old Oracle of Omaha even skirted his 10 p.m. bedtime by a few hours in September to watch the Álvarez match on Netflix. In addition to appreciating Crawford’s prowess in the ring, Buffett is impressed by his fellow Nebraskan’s measured approach to investing.
Knockout Watches: Crawford’s collection includes (clockwise from top left) a Rolex Deepsea, Hublot Big Bang Meca-10, Rolex Submariner (inscribed with 42-0), Patek Philippe Aquanaut Travel Time, Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Chronograph, Rolex Sky-Dweller and a Ulysse Nardin Blast Free Wheel Marquetry.
Jamel Toppin for Forbes
“I’ve seen an awful lot of fight champions that die busted, and the people around them got rich,” Buffett says. “I don’t think Bud is going to end up that way at all. He’s got his head screwed on.”
The odds certainly weren’t in Crawford’s favor growing up in North Omaha, an area plagued by crime and poverty. In 2008, the then-20-year-old was hit by a bullet in the back of his head while sitting in his car after a dice game. (It missed his brain by inches.) Watching his family struggle financially, a young Crawford picked up a habit of stashing every dollar away. Eventually, he realized that “money in the shoebox ain’t really saving money.”
Crawford credits his fourth-grade teacher, Jamie Nolette, for playing a key role in opening his eyes to the bigger financial picture and introducing him to an accountant. He also used to spar with former world champion Timothy Bradley, who told him to invest and to form an LLC. That advice would come in handy when Crawford started fighting for purses north of $1 million in 2015.
The money only got better over the next decade, especially after he acrimoniously split from his former promoter, Bob Arum’s Top Rank Boxing, in 2021. While the biggest fights in the sport eluded Crawford for most of his career, including several failed attempts to face the legendary Pacquiao, he had his moment two years later, demolishing Errol Spence Jr. in nine rounds, reportedly earning $25 million for the fight.
Crawford’s longtime coach, Bernie Davis, said it would take $100 million to get him back in the ring.
“In matchup after matchup, Crawford has consistently defied the expectations of a lot of people who, early on, did not think he had superstar potential,” says sportscaster Jim Lampley, who spent 30 years as the voice of HBO Championship Boxing. “He just understood it was a matter of being patient enough, following his own principles, fighting the way he can fight and everything would turn out all right. And it did.”
For now, Crawford isn’t thinking about a rematch with Álvarez, and he isn’t ready to decide what’s next for his boxing career, either. (In December, the WBC stripped him of his super middleweight title, claiming he failed to pay sanctioning fees for the September fight.) Retiring undefeated, akin to greats like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Rocky Marciano, would be a “blessing,” he says. And he certainly doesn’t have to rush back into the ring for income. Forbes estimates that Crawford earns at least $2 million annually from brand partnerships, including Crown Casino, Riyadh Season and Everlast, as well as other business endeavors. His longtime coach, Bernie Davis, recently said it would take $100 million to get Crawford back in the ring.
When he does finally hang up his gloves, Crawford wants to dive deeper on his real estate interests. He currently has a mix of nearly 80 properties, residential and commercial, spread across Omaha, Kansas City and Colorado Springs, all paid for in cash. Eventually, he wants to add Las Vegas to that group. His portfolio operates at a loss right now, which he expects to change in a few years, but he’s not willing to chase a quick windfall to make that happen.
“I don’t want to take chances,” Crawford says. “I take too many chances in the ring.”
