Justann Crawford

Justann John Crawford (born 24 July 1973) is a retired indigenous Australian Olympic boxer. Justann earned 9 international gold medals and represented Australia at the 1992, 1996 Olympic Games and 1994 Commonwealth Games. He also held 9 Australian boxing titles mainly in the middleweight division, or in the light heavyweight division.

Justann Crawford's boxing career was cut short because of an eye injury and mild brain damage in 1998 at age 25. However, he was one of the first few indigenous Australians to compete in the Olympic Games.

His commitment to boxing has put him in the Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame to recognise his multiple international titles in representing Australia as an aboriginal.

Following his retirement from the ring, Crawford became a personal boxing trainer at Balmain Fitness.

Early life Justann Crawford was born and raised in Tasmania, Australia. He attended Parklands High School in Burnie, Cosgrove High School in Hobart for the duration of Year 9 and 10, and studied boxing at Elizabeth College for Year 11 and 12 .

Crawford began boxing at the age of 12. His grandfather on his mother's side was boxer, Bobby Whelan, who died on the West Gate Bridge when it collapsed in 1970. Crawford was constantly picked on as a child for having freckles, blisters and red hair, he wanted to participate in boxing for a boost of confidence and to be able to look after himself. However, he was rejected from the PCYC Gym at the age of 10 since he was too young to join the gym.

Following his multiple wins, Crawford began to set goals for his career. He believed in "the power of the mind" and would visualize his goals, he believes that "the more you see it, the more you believe it, the more you achieve.". This mindset was inspired by Crawford's mentor, Billy Barr, a professional squash player. Barr trained Crawford's mental strength with training techniques like shuttle runs and wall sits, Crawford feels that Barr's training has taught his mind to "reject a body that is desperate to quit". Crawford successfully entered his first Olympic Games where he competed in the Middleweight Division, but was defeated by Aleksandr Lebzyak of the Unified Team. He was defeated again fighting Aleksandr Lebziak in Round 16. The referee stopped both fights in the third round.

In the 1997 Championship hosted in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Crawford was defeated by Regan Foley from Auckland at 3:2 points.

In 1998, the championship was hosted in Upper Hutt, New Zealand. Crawford defeats Stephen McIver from Canterbury where the referee stopped the contest.

King's Cup In the 1993 King's Cup Championship hosted in Khon Kaen, Thailand]. On 6 April, Crawford competed in the Light Heavyweight Division semi-finals at and defeated Young Deuk from Korea where the referee stopped the contest, resulting in an automatic win for Crawford, and proceeded to quarterfinals, where he defeated a Canadian competitor. He then defeated Ong-Art Prasertsung from Thailand. He proceeded to finals on 8 April and defeated Pino Bahari from Indonesia.

Mayors Cup Crawford competed in the Mayor's Cup hosted in Manila, Philippines. On 8 December, Crawford at the weight of defeated Sung-You Chang from Korea in the semi-finals where the referee stopped the match resulting in an automatic win for Crawford, he then defeated Pino Bahari from Indonesia at 17:4 points.

In 1998, Crawford competed in the Mayor's Cup hosted in Bacolod, Philippines. In the quarterfinals round, Crawford at defeated Marco Bangard from Mauritius where the referee stopped the contest. Then Crawford proceeded to the semifinals and was defeated by Ernesto Coronel from the Philippines at 13:11 points.

World ranking In 1993, Crawford internationally ranked second in Light Heavyweight. In 1995, Crawford ranked fifth internationally in the Middleweight Division.

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics was held in Atlanta, US. Crawford won Round 1 with 12:3 points, but lost Round 2 because the referee stopped the contest, resulting in an automatic loss.

Controversy Crawford's departure from the ring was considered controversial due to the lack of information on why Crawford was deemed unfit to compete in the Commonwealth Games despite being elected as team captain, while also being qualified to compete in the Commonwealth Games in the first place and the reason behind his sudden retirement from the boxing ring. It was concluded that the reason to his early retirement was an eye injury. However, Crawford spoke about the neuropsychological medical exam conducted on him in later years, revealing that the eye injury was not the only reason that he retired young.

Amateur career After retiring from the ring at age 25, Crawford returned to Tasmania Institute of Sport to be a manager of the boxing team. He described one of his jobs being "holding a microphone in the middle of the ring at the Carlyle Hotel in Hobart."

Amateur boxing records