Sparring partners take a break at the B&B Sports Academy. Photo courtesy of Alex C. Carter

by Leo Adam Biga

The warriors inside the B&B Sports Academy boxing gym move to an internal rhythm. Their energy builds, ebbs and flows as they punch bags, shadow box or spar in the ring, skip rope, press pushups, crunch sit-ups. When spent, they stop to catch their breath, arms hanging at their sides. Blood, sweat and tears get spilled, pride and will is tested. Only the sound of coaches barking instructions, occasional belly laughs and the blare of recorded music breaks the intense spell.

This North Omaha community center at 3034 Sprague Street is divided into two wings – the larger east side devoted to boxing and the west side to wrestling. The open boxing gym finds kids, adults, amateurs and professionals training side by side. Whether just getting in shape, learning to box or preparing for a fight, you rub shoulders with veteran competitors, including world champion Terence “Bud” Crawford. The B&B is the home gym of Omaha’s own living legend prizefighter. His reputation precedes him as arguably the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter and for single-handedly reviving the sport in his hometown, which he’s put on the map as a boxing mecca.

His classic hard-knocks story of transcending “the hood” to fight in sold-out arenas and to command pay-per-view audiences has been oft-told. But he’s not the only B&B success story. As others make their marks, Crawford cheers them on.

“So Cold” Steven Nelson of Omaha is a former amateur champion turned pro super middleweight world title contender. He’s now healing from a torn achilles tendon. He’s also a creative who designs his own fight-night costumes. He assisted lead artist Reggie LeFlore on the coaches and fighters murals adorning the building. The cultural mural is part of the North Omaha Trail Project.

Crawford is eager for Nelson, 17-0, to join him as a world title-holder and pound-for-pound top dog.

“That’s my little brother,” Crawford said of Nelson. “He’s right there with me. I just told him, take your time, don’t rush. Any mistake can put him back to a place where he’d have to work his way up.”

Last month B&B’s Brittany Parker became only the second Nebraskan to win a National Golden Gloves title since 1980 and the first Black woman from here to do so. She hopes to add a world amateur title before turning pro in 2022. She has her own wellness business, Brittany’s Balance, she models, and she leads the Women’s Center for Advancement’s home assistance program.

As with Nelson, Crawford revels in her success. “She’s doing great for herself and the gym. Everybody’s proud of her. Sometimes she’ll go to the tournaments by herself. It reminds me when I used to go to tournaments by myself. It just shows me dedication and determination to be great. She’s got the heart. She’s got a lot of heart. You’ve gotta have heart in this game.”

Seventeen-year-old Alan Panduro-Angulo is a nationally ranked amateur with a staggering number of bouts (nearly 200) under his belt. He’s coached by his father Lucas and counseled by his older brother Ary, who plan on coaching and managing him when he turns pro in a year.

“Everybody knows Alan,” Crawford said. “Probably one of the best, if not the best young fighters around.”

Gyms that passed on the young man now covet him. Only B&B liked his desire enough to take him on. He’s rewarding their faith. “I’m loyal and I stay with who had me when I was young and first starting out. So I’m going to stay with them in the future, too,” Panduro-Angulo said.

Where just a few years ago he was a wide-eyed kid, he’s now someone others aspire to. “I never saw myself as a role model until now. I’ve even started giving the kids advice. The steps they’re going to take, I already took. I know what’s going to help them when they get to a certain level.”

Panduro-Angulo is sure he wouldn’t be as advanced as he is if not for the talent on close display in Crawford, Nelson, Parker, et cetera. “They’re all great fighters. They provide great motivation. We all push each other to be better, to go further.”

He particularly emulates Crawford. “I see how hard he works and I want to work just as hard. I know where he’s at and I want to be there, too. I study him.”

“That’s my little brother, He’s right there with me. I just told him, take your time, don’t rush. Any mistake can put him back to a place where he’d have to work his way up.”

— Terence Crawford (concerning Nelson)

Panduro-Angulo is sure he wouldn’t be as advanced as he is if not for the talent on close display in Crawford, Nelson, Parker, et cetera. “They’re all great fighters. They provide great motivation. We all push each other to be better, to go further.”

He particularly emulates Crawford. “I see how hard he works and I want to work just as hard. I know where he’s at and I want to be there, too. I study him.”

Then there’s 11-year-old Reno Busby, a nationally ranked Silver Gloves fighter whom Crawford’s taken under his wing. Reno’s father was killed when he was a toddler and once in school he acted out. Karate classes helped. His mother Jache Thompson felt boxing could, too. After a tentative start, Busby proved an apt pupil. “At first I didn’t like it, but then I got into it and started getting the hang of it,” he said. He soon made an impression. “All the coaches gravitated to him. They all said, there’s something about this kid right here,” Thompson recalled.

The lessons he’s learned are translating into winning belts – he wants to be a world champion – and doing better in school. His mother appreciates the difference boxing’s made.

“I could immediately see changes in Reno. He’s more calm, more patient. I can totally see a growth. He has that structure in his life. Reno gives it his all, He’s at that gym every single day and they don’t charge us a penny.”

She’s grateful Crawford takes time to mentor him. “If Reno is having a bad day, Bud’s like, ‘Hey I’m going to come get him, we’re going to have a talk about this bad day, and see what we can do about this.’ It really means a lot to me. Terence takes time out for my son. It’s more than just a gym. They’re a boxing family up there.”

Busby likes the attention the champ gives him. “He teaches me a lot. He babies me a little bit. We go to his house to watch boxing videos.”

The youngster’s traveled across the state and the nation on B&B teams competing in area and national tournaments.

A Launching Pad for Success

Crawford selected Busby to be pictured on the mural with much older fighters such as Nelson and Parker. It fits with his goal for B&B to nurture talent and give prospects a platform to thrive.

“There’s always going to be young talent coming up under you that have potential,” he said. “We have a pretty fair amount of kids that are really talented, It’s just a matter of keeping them excited with the sport of boxing.”

On busy nights the B&B hosts 40-50 kids and two dozen adults. Among the coaches is Hugh Reefe. Back in the day, he reached the National Golden Gloves once before pursuing a law career. He bounced around gyms, but then fell away from the sport and weathered a personal crisis. By the time he hooked up with B&B he felt ready to give-back. He helped incorporate it as a 501(c)(3) and assumed coaching novices.

He puts students through their paces on the padded floor the way a choreographer does with dancers, demonstrating jabs, bobs, weaves, feints, slips, footwork.

As students try mirroring his movements, Reefe stops to make adjustments to their arms, hands, knees, feet, head.“I try to get them to believe they can do it,” he said. Mastering skills breeds confidence, which he said is what some youths need in order to handle bullies.

There are ground rules for participants, especially kids. B&B checks on students’ grades and doesn’t tolerate any disrespect or talk-back to coaches or parents. “We’re really trying to develop champions,

We say we want you to be a champion inside and outside the ring. We’re trying to build great people,” said Parker, who along with other veteran fighters do their fair share of coaching, too.

B&B youth teams, Reefe added, “show up good” in competitions. “We do just fine, We’re up there skill-wise.” He credits that success to the coaching. His fellow coaches include Red Spikes, James “Hard Jaw” Henley, Lucas and Esau Dieguez. They’re all pictured on the coaches mural.

“That’s B&B,” Crawford said proudly.

When not leading novices, Reefe helps coach Parker and other fighters. He said the veterans are great examples for beginners because of “the serious way they go about their business.”

“I want to see everybody succeed, I want to see everybody win, we’re all a team at the end of the day. If I can give out some advice then that’s what I’ll do, instead of just looking at you making mistakes time after time after time and don’t say anything.”

— Terence Crawford

Everyone there wants to please Crawford. The coaches have been with him for years. They return his trust with loyalty. When he’s there, he quietly gets his work in, occasionally stopping to correct someone’s bad techniques. He wants anyone training there, especially those fighting under the B&B brand, to represent the right way.

“I want to see everybody succeed, I want to see everybody win,” Crawford said. “We’re all a team at the end of the day. If I can give out some advice then that’s what I’ll do, instead of just looking at you making mistakes time after time after time and don’t say anything.”

He doesn’t tolerate nonsense, he said, “because you can get hurt in boxing and we don’t want anybody to get hurt messing around.” “I want everybody to take accountability for themselves. I want people to train hard, do their best, do what they can, but do it well and do it right.”

Reefe said Crawford’s hands-on involvement even finds him subbing for regular coaches when they have scheduling conflicts.

“He’s not scared to take over and help me,” Reefe said. “He helped me for an entire two weeks when Lucas was out of town. He coached every night with me – young amateur kids.”

Bud sometimes travels with B&B teams to tourneys, encouraging the young-bloods.

The renovated warehouse turned sports academy is the vision of Crawford and his friend and coach, Brian “BoMac” McIntyre. Both grew up in the neighborhood. The academy’s a sanctuary in a community beset by poverty and gangs. A million dollar-plus renovation has created a clean, cavernous space where anyone with an inclination to lose weight or learn the basics of self-defense or follow a pugilistic dream is welcome.

“I’m very proud of myself and BoMac for actually putting the money into this gym to make it the way it is now,” Crawford said. “I appreciate all the donors who helped out for the project and after the project because without them it would be hard to do the things we’re doing right now.”

The B&B (Bud and BoMac) launched as Crawford came to prominence a decade ago. The unbeaten (37-0) fighter’s profile has only grown as he’s won world titles in different divisions. At first he shied away from the expectations that come with being an admired public figure, but he’s warmed to it.

“It’s more natural to me now. I just never wanted that responsibility. But as I got older and more kids came up to me, saying, ‘I want to be like you,’ it dawned on me this is my calling, I gotta do it, because it ain’t what you want to do, it’s what God made for you to do. So I had to change my life and set a good example for not only my kids but other kids that look up to me.”

Steven Nelson

Crawford knows B&B prospects, young and old alike, follow his lead, trying to meet his high standards. That includes Steven Nelson. Even though Nelson is older and well-established and began his boxing career elsewhere, he credits Bud and B&B with his progression in the sport.

Growing up, Nelson never met his father. His mother struggled with mental and physical issues. He was passed off from one adult family member to another whenever he got in trouble. With no stable support system or home, he drifted.

“I found love in the streets from friends or people I looked up to. I wanted to be like them, That made it even harder for people in my family to deal with me. I was just bouncing around, making my way,” Nelson said.

He never played organized sports growing up. Enlisting in the U.S. Army proved life-changing. “I feel like my first father was the military. The military is what taught me to be responsible and to grow up and to look at life in a whole different light.” He entered the service overweight but his natural athletic ability showed once he started shedding pounds. “I realized my skills – how fast I was, how strong I was compared to my peers. I was a few steps ahead of everyone.”

When he gained excess weight while stationed in North Carolina, an officer suggested he find a way to stay fit. Nelson sought out a boxing gym. Coach Khalil Shakeel soon noticed Nelson’s potential, telling him, “You’re a natural.” Under his tutelage, Nelson began fighting competitively. Then he joined Basheer Abdullah, a former U.S. Olympic boxing coach,who ran the All-Army boxing program. Nelson twice won the All-Army and Armed Forces titles. He vied for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. He added a U.S. national championship and a National Golden Gloves title.

Without the military and boxing, he’s certain he would have ended up like his homies. “All my close friends I was with every day – I can’t think of one that’s not in jail or dead.”

Now that this Army veteran is back in Omaha, he applies all he’s learned to staying straight. “It takes a lot of discipline to not get caught up in what everybody else is doing around you.” He never loses sight of the fact that at B&B he can trace the path taken by Crawford to get where he wants to be. “It’s amazing seeing it because it gives you a blueprint of what you’ve got to do and how you have to apply yourself so you can get to the same place.”

He’s surrounded by peers who inspire him, just as he inspires them. “I can always go to those guys for different advice. I also don’t have a problem sharing knowledge and helping someone meet a goal. I feel like it’s my purpose. Why have these skills and abilities if I can’t share them with nobody else?” As Nelson sees it, B&B’s a beacon of hope. “It gives something to the community to gravitate towards. It’s one of the only things they’ve seen somebody accomplish from our neighborhood. We’re the pioneers who started this and worked together and built up something.”

He wants to be the example he didn’t have. “I look at it like I’m sacrificing myself for the people that come after me. If I don’t change the narrative for the future, who will? When it becomes the right time I want to have a community center, too.”

Brittany Parker

Meanwhile, Brittany Parker’s made the most of an improbable boxing journey with B&B written all over it. Growing up “a tomboy,” she said, “I always wanted to be an athlete because my brothers were athletes and I was the only girl. I was the awkward, quiet, non-confrontational person. It’s a miracle I’m an elite boxer ranked number one in the country.” She played some high school hoops, where coaches saw something special in her, but at the time, she said, “I couldn’t see it myself.”

A chaotic early life ill-prepared her for adulthood. “I had to do so much healing from my childhood and it hindered me in so many different ways.” By 21, she escaped a toxic relationship she found herself in but was still hurting. “Although I was out and free, I still was angry for all the things that happened to me and I missed out on.” On the advice of an uncle, she went to B&B to release her anger on the bags. The crew noticed her will and grit and taught her the finer points.

“That gym just really pulled out some great qualities I didn’t know I had in myself. It was a journey of self-discovery. It changed my life. The things I’ve gotten from being a fighter in that gym are amazing – determination, drive, perseverance, dedication. I’m no longer thinking about all the pain, I’m focused on getting better. When I’m having a really bad day I come in here and it just sheds off of me.”

She’s found something she not only excels at but that brings her healing and health. “I guess everyone has their purpose. I was searching for it for so long, I was getting discouraged, and boxing just so happened to be mine. I found my calling.”

As a personal wellness coach, she shares what she’s learned about self-care with other women. Parker, a single mother of a son, also enjoys being a role model to young people at the gym.

“I love the kids down there. They look up to me. I’m pushing them, motivating them, saying, ‘Hey, if I can do it, you can do it, and you can take it further than me because you’re starting younger.”

“I don’t do it for myself. There’s six or seven young women boxers there coming up behind me. They want to compete, and I think that’s just so beautiful. I want them to continue to be inspired. They’re watching what I’m doing. Now they see they can do anything. They see that hard work pays off. We need to have those examples.”

— Brittany Parker

Kids or adults, she said, “we’re all just fighters trying to achieve a goal, working on getting better, stronger, faster. You want to be around that momentum and energy. I thrive off of it.”

She’s not alone transforming herself. “I’ve seen so many people blossom and grow. The confidence you get from boxing is amazing.” She confirms Crawford sets the tone. “You’ve got the best of the best and we’re all trying to match him. We’ve seen that he made it out, so we’re trying to give our all. We see it’s possible.”

Soon after winning national in Tulsa, Okla., she was back in the gym, showing off her title belt, letting her mates share in the glory.

“I don’t do it for myself. There’s six or seven young women boxers there coming up behind me. They want to compete, and I think that’s just so beautiful. I want them to continue to be inspired. They’re watching what I’m doing. Now they see they can do anything. They see that hard work pays off. We need to have those examples.”

Just as Nelson and Crawford promise a next generation of B&B bad-asses, she does, too. “They’re coming blazing,” she said. “I may be the latest one, but I promise you I won’t be the last champion out of there.”

Most of all, she’s happy her son’s along for the ride. “My son’s watching me do these things and he sees that anything is possible.”

Wrestling is the Other Side of B&B

Boxing’s not the whole story at B&B. Roger Parker (no relation to Brittany) runs the Ready RP Nationals Wrestling Team and after school program there. It’s an extension of the Exploradories Wrestling Club he took over from his mentor and coach, the late Joe Edmondson.

One of Parker’s assistant coaches is Nebraska State Sen. Terrell McKinney, who wrestled for Joe Edmonson, then at North High, UNO and Maryville University. Parker utilizes tutors to work with kids when he can. He and Crawford look to more fully activate a B&B classroom space that the boxing, wrestling and after school programs share.

Pre-pandemic, Parker’s program served 100-plus youths per year. Numbers are down while the COVID threat lingers, but he expects to see participation increase over time.

Just as B&B’s young boxers show out at USA and Silver Gloves competitions, Parker’s young wrestlers turn heads. Among his program’s nationally ranked grapplers are Kylonn Haynie, Solomon Starks and Terence Crawford’s three sons, Terence Crawford III, Tyrese and Tacari.

For Parker, the program continues a legacy Edmonson began in 1968. “A lot of great people came through that program,” he said. “Houston Alexander, RaVaughn Perkins, Terrell McKinney. Theyr’e doing positive things in the community. They’re good fathers – that’s the main thing. This program’s touched so many people. We’re still on that grind, still working the kids hard. Our motto’s the same: ‘no magic, just hard work.’”

Parker and his coaches prepare young people for life the way Edmonson did. He credits Edmonson, Curly Alexander, Richard Brown, Gene Barnhill as mentors. Parker eventually assisted Edmonson.

Similarly, Crawford continues what he learned from Carl Washington, Midge Minor and other coaches and mentors.

An Oasis

Then and now, Parker said, “It’s about our community, North Omaha, and trying to keep these kids from killing each other.”

The B&B provides an escape from harsh realities, “That facility is a safe haven for kids, and they have fun,” he said.

“It’s not just about boxing” the B&B website proclaims. The same can be said of Parker’s program, which uses wrestling to teach life skills.

“My main thing is to get these kids out of the inner city and travel to see different things.,” Parker said. ”That exposure can make them strive to go to college, try for the Olympics, open a business.”

His kids also get exposed to Crawford and Co. “They’re meeting all kinds of famous people and champions. A lot of positive things go on there.”

In terms of B&B’s resources and opportunities, Crawford said, “It’s not done with. I feel like I can do much more in the community, and I will do much more in the community. That’s what I’m working towards – doing more in the community than just one area (athletics). I feel like there’s much more to give and much more to utilize that the kids can benefit from in the inner city.”

He’s committed with Parker to bringing educational supports for kids. “That’s definitely on the way,” Crawford said. “We’re working on getting some college students to come down here to tutor.”

Come what may, B&B’s anchored in the community and Team Crawford’s there to stay.

“We’re family, and family stick together,” Crawford said. “We’re more than just fighters and coaches, we’re family – each and every one of us.”