Terence Crawford was favourite to qualify for Olympics but had dream shattered by cruel defeat
Terence Crawford looked certain to be heading to the 2008 Beijing Olympics a year before the tournament.
'Bud' was the No.1 ranked US lightweight in 2007 and was the favourite to qualify for the Games in his weight class.
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However, back-to-back defeats put an end to his Olympic hopes.
After beating Miguel Angel Gonzalez in the quarter-finals of the 2007 USA National Championship, he fell to defeat at the hands of Jerry Belmontes in the semis.
He was then knocked off his perch by Sadam Ali two months later at the George R Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.
Ali defeated Crawford on points over four two-minute rounds and jumped above him in the national rankings.
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Recalling the fight, Ali told : "When I beat Crawford, It was a competitive fight throughout the whole time but he might have got tired.
"Maybe Terence Crawford wasn't going as hard as he should have in the amateurs.
"I felt like I wanted it more heading into that final round, I was down by one point going into the last round and I ended up winning by four or five points."
Ali went on to qualify for the 2008 Olympics by finishing second at the AIBA 1st Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in March 2008, while Crawford turned over as a pro.
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The Omaha puncher finished his amateur career with a record of 58-12 but hasn't lost a single fight during his unblemished 40-0 career in the paid ranks.
Crawford is a three-weight world champion from lightweight to welterweight and is one of only three male boxers (alongside Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk) to achieve undisputed status in two divisions during the four-belt era.
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Terence Crawford's world titles
- WBO Lightweight Title (2014-2015; 2 defenses)
- WBO Junior Welterweight Title (2015-2017; 6 defenses)
- WBC Super Lightweight Title (2016-2017; 3 defenses)
- IBF Junior Welterweight Title (2017; 0 defenses)
- WBA Super Lightweight Super Title (2017; 0 defenses)
- WBO Welterweight Title (2018-present; 5 defenses)
- IBF Welterweight Title (2023-2024; 0 defenses)
- WBC Welterweight Title (2023-2024; 0 defenses)
- WBA Welterweight Super Title (2023-present; 0 defenses)
After winning and defending the WBO lightweight twice, the Omaha puncher moved up to super lightweight where he unified all four titles with a third-round knockout victory over Julius Indongo in 2017.
And six years later, Crawford cemented his legacy by stopping Errol Spence at welterweight in their high-profile four-belt shootout.
Now, he is set to challenge for a world title in a fourth weight class this weekend.
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On Saturday night, he squares off against Israil Madrimov at the BMO stadium in Los Angeles for the Uzbek's WBA super welterweight crown in the 36-year-old's first fight at the weight.
While Crawford looks to establish further himself as an all-time great, Ali has already called time on his career.
The Brooklyn boxer lost his opening bout of the 2008 Olympics to Romania's Georgian Popescu but went on to win the WBO super welterweight title against Miguel Cotto in 2017 in the pros.
Jaime Munguia snatched the red and gold strap from him in his first defence a year later before Ali hung up his gloves in 2019 with a record of 27-3.
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