World Champions are made, not born: Crawford’s message to Ugandan boxers

“Forget being a world champion if you are mixing boxing with women and drugs. My other advice to the Ugandan boxing community is they must accept that world champions are not born but rather made.”

This was Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford’s clear message to the Ugandan boxing fraternity upon his arrival at the National Council of Sports (NCS) headquarters in Lugogo on Monday morning.

Crawford, 36, the American world boxing champion, is in Uganda for the second time since 2014, for charity and other philanthropic reasons.

For starters, the fact that Ugandan boxers got a chance to share such a message with someone of Crawford’s calibre—whose professional record stands at 41 fights with 31 knockouts and no losses—adds icing on the cake.

Born in Omaha, USA, Crawford is a unified champion of the World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF), and World Boxing Organisation (WBO).

American World Boxing Champion Terence Crawford (second right) with NCS General Secretary, Dr.Ogwel (right) with Uganda Professional Boxing Commission officials and boxers at NCS posing. Photo by Fred Kisekka

He is a four-division champion in the lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight, and junior middleweight categories.

Crawford, who has been in the top ten of the world’s pound-for-pound rankings since 2018, implored Ugandan boxers to stay away from drugs if their mission is to achieve greatness.

“In boxing, good preparation and having management teams with specialists are key to success. But the reason many African boxers fail is their addiction to drugs and women,” Crawford revealed to Vision Sport.

“There is no fluking in boxing. Ugandan boxing stakeholders must also understand that world champions are not born but made. They must invest massively in boxers starting at a young age.”

Uganda Professional Boxing Council (UPBC) officials, led by president Salim Uhuru, ABU secretary and UPBC treasurer Maureen Mulangira, former UPBC president Celestine Mindra, and others, led Crawford to NCS where he met General Secretary Dr. Patrick Ogwel and his deputy Joseph Oluga.

Current Africa Boxing Union (ABU) middleweight champion John Sserunjogi, former ABU light heavyweight champion Joey Vegas Lubega, current ABU East and Central light heavyweight champion Herbert Matovu, current national welterweight champion Isaac Zebra Ssenyange Jr., Olympian Shadir Musa, and former ABU featherweight champion Sgt. Aldine Mzee were some of the notable boxers who gave the legendary American world champion a warm reception.

From NCS, Crawford went straight to Uganda’s oldest boxing club, Kampala Boxing Club (KBC), where he shared modern techniques and training equipment with budding fighters.

With the backing of his former school teacher Jamie Nollett, Crawford is also in Uganda for charity, where he is set to provide equipment to Lacor Hospital in Gulu district.