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Terence Crawford had a big year in 2014, so big in fact that he was named fighter of the year by ESPN.com and the Boxing Writers Association of America, among other outlets. That is a big box to check for any aspiring boxing star and potential future Hall of Famer.During 2014, Crawford traveled to Scotland and rolled to a decision victory to win a lightweight world title from Ricky Burns and then returned home to Omaha, Nebraska, for two impressive performances in title defenses, an exciting ninth-round knockout of former unified featherweight titleholder Yuriorkis Gamboa and a near-shutout decision against veteran contender Raymundo Beltran. Now fast-forward to 2016 and Crawford is on the verge of another 3-0 year against reputable opponents and another possible fighter of the year award.He will defend his unified junior welterweight world title belts against longtime contender John Molina Jr., a determined brawler with a punch as big as his heart, on Saturday (HBO, 9:35 p.m. ET/PT) at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha.In the scheduled 10-round co-feature, lightweight up-and-comer Mason Menard (32-1, 24 KOs), 28, of Rayne, Louisiana, who replaced injured former unified titleholder Juan Diaz, will take on his most notable opponent in Raymundo Beltran (31-7-1, 19 KOs), 35, a Mexico native based in Phoenix.The telecast will open with same-day taped coverage of the vacant heavyweight world title bout from Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, between Kiwi star Joseph Parker (21-0, 18 KOs), 24, and Andy Ruiz Jr. (29-0, 19 KOs), 27, of Imperial Valley, California, who is bidding to become the first fighter of Mexican descent to win a heavyweight title.The 29-year-old Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs), who has not done much talking in the lead-up to the fight, did manage to squeeze out a few quotes about his belief that he deserves another fighter of the year award should he polish off Molina, a heavy underdog, though he faces stiff competition from fighters such as featherweight titleholder Carl Frampton and junior lightweight titlist Vasyl Lomachenko.If I win Saturday night I should be considered fighter of the year, Crawford boasted.After Crawford defeated Beltran, he moved up to the junior welterweight division and won a world title. In February, he made his second defense and scored a fifth-round knockout of second-tier contender Hank Lundy.Crawfords next fight was the one that put him squarely in the conversation for the award. In July, he scored two knockdowns and cruised to a one-sided decision win against Viktor Postol to unify titles against the fighter considered by virtually everybody as either No. 1 or No. 2 in the weight class. It is, without question, the most significant victory of Crawfords eight-year professional career.Molina (29-6, 23 KOs), 33, of Covina, California, is coming off a strong performance in a decision win against former titlist Ruslan Provodnikov in June. Crawford is so confident of victory that he had no problem continuing to talk about the possible fighter of the year award.I did a number on Hank Lundy, the kind that nobody else was able to do, Crawford said, continuing to make his case. I unified the title against Postol, a guy everybody said was almost as good as I was. I am an undefeated champion and was fighting a guy [Postol] coming off a knockout win against [Lucas] Matthysse and I totally dominated him.Now Im fighting another guy coming off an impressive win, a No. 1 contender, and a win over him should convince people that I am fighter of the year.Brian McIntyre, Crawfords career-long trainer and co-manager, is as outspoken as Crawford when it comes to the fighter of the year hardware. Hed also like get his hands on the trainer of the year trophy, which eluded him in 2014.Im not going to lie to you, we talk about it, McIntyre said of the awards. It is one of our goals to get fighter of the year and trainer of the year. Its not a priority, but it would be great to get it.McIntyre would especially like to win trainer honors and do it in the same year that his fighter gets top honors. He sounded wistful as he spoke about when then-super middleweight champion (and now unified light heavyweight titleholder) Andre Ward and longtime trainer Virgil Hunter collected the awards together in 2011.That was great for them because they did it together, McIntyre said. It would be great for us to do it as a team. It would be like getting the boxing Oscar award. Its like an actor and director getting the Oscar. It would be great for our city, great for our state and great for our gym.McIntyre agreed with Crawford that they deserve the award as long as Crawford beats Molina.Getting those awards is satisfying to a fighter or a coachs career, he said. You can only fight for so long, you can only train fighters for so long and there are not that many fighters and trainers who stick together for their whole careers. Weve been together since the beginning. Weve accomplished a lot together.We should get it this year. Theres nobody else. There are?some guys who accomplished good things out there, but [Crawford] knocked out a top fighter like Lundy, beat Postol easy after Postol came over here [from Russia] and knocked out Matthysse. Everybody had Postol first [at 140 pounds] before Terence. Those two wins were really good for us. This fight here against Molina should solidify fighter of the year and trainer of the year for us.As much as Crawford covets a second fighter of the year award in three years, he believes it is about time that McIntyre get his due from the media.Of course, he should be trainer of the year, Crawford said. How do you think I became fighter of the year? He has?been underrated for many years and he doesnt get enough credit. I think its because we fight out of a small market like Omaha.Then, in perhaps a dig at seven-time trainer of the year and International Boxing Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, Crawford added, If we were based in Los Angeles, it would be a no-brainer that hed be trainer of the year, like when I was fighter of the year in 2014. Thats why its so important to fight in Omaha, because HBO shines a national spotlight on our town and shows that there are great boxers and trainers coming out of here also. Air Max Shop Nederland . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). Nike Air Max Schoenen Kopen . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. http://www.airmaxsalenederland.com/ . -- Nate Robinson has played for seven teams, so beating one of them is no longer a rare occurrence. Air Max Schoenen Sale .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Nike Air Max Uitverkoop . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. SEATTLE -- The John Ross who made the Stanford secondary look as if it were running through maple syrup last week has come a long way in the past two years.The Washington wide receiver has added 17 pounds to his 5-foot-11 frame, which means at 190 pounds he is no longer as vulnerable to a strong wind or a strong safety.This past March, Ross ran a hand-timed 4.25 40-yard dash. While some NFL scouts turn up their nose at the inaccuracies of hand times, how far off could it be? Maybe it was only a 4.35. Ask the Cardinal defensive backs who couldnt get near Ross -- except when they committed pass interference against him twice -- how fast he is.Oh, yeah. There was one other small thing. Nothing, really. Just that Ross is sprinting through secondaries and kickoff coverages after recovering from major injuries to both knees. The repaired fourth-year junior has become one of the big reasons the Huskies have risen to No. 5 in the AP poll.I would never, ever see myself in the position Im in now, Ross said. Im honestly happy that I got hurt. It just changed me physically, mentally, emotionally, in football, in every aspect. I got to learn so much just by watching. It was almost like a redshirt year. It was?a redshirt year, but just so late in my career.Ross didnt always see the injuries as a gift. He suffered his first injury against Illinois in the third game of the 2014 season, tearing his meniscus in his right knee. He also needed microfracture surgery after the season. Yet Ross never let on that he was hurt.Hey, NFL, you can check the toughness box.It was a kickoff return, Ross said. Just got rolled up on pretty good. And I felt something in my knee, but I didnt think nothing of it. My knee swelled up after the game. And it never really went down. But I was worried if I said something, I probably would have to sit out for the rest of the season.Ross had caught a touchdown in each of the Huskies first three games. He missed the following week, and then played five straight weeks before the knee caught up to him. He caught only 11 passes combined in those games, and now says he wasnt anymore than 75 percent of his best self.There were days when my leg was so stiff I couldnt run, Ross said, night games where it was harder for me to get warmer because I had that swelling in my knee. The swelling did not go down at all. There was no chance of the swelling going down. The doctor ended up telling me after I got the MRI after the season, I waited so long, [the knee] started to heal itself. I dont know if that was good or bad.The following spring, on the first day the medical staff cleared Ross to practice in full pads, he still didnt completely trust his knee.I was running a simple go route, and a lot of people were in the way, Ross said. My first instinct, instead of running someone over, was jump out the way. So I was kind of favoring my meniscus [right] knee, jumped out the way to my right. Didnt want to land on my right. Landed in an awkward position on my left and I felt my knee snap. Thats when I tore the ACL and meniscus on my left knee.It was kind of a weird deal, Ross said. Afteer I got off the ground, I could still run.dddddddddddd. I was walking without a limp. Going to class. I got my MRI, and I went home and went to sleep. I woke up, and my leg was stuck in a bent position. I kind of figured something was really, really wrong at that point.Ross said he could have played late in the 2015 season. But he and the coaches agreed it would be smarter to fully heal, and to complete the redshirt year and have that season in the bank. He participated in bowl practices, where he learned just how far behind he had fallen. In the first conditioning drill he took part in, the team ran six sprints, with minimal rest between.On the first two, he ran out front of everyone.On the next two, he stayed out in front of everyone.By the sixth and final one, he had to be helped off the field.I kind of wanted to show everyone I could still run, Ross said. The first couple of reps, I was just killing em. Our last two reps, I almost passed out. ... I just felt my whole body cramping up. I felt it completely slowing down. There was nothing I could do about it.Being cleared to practice, and being able to practice, and proving that you are 100 percent back and better than ever in practice, all are important. But they are a long way from putting on the Husky uniform and standing on the goal line awaiting a kickoff. Ross started a countdown on his phone. Imagine looking at it and seeing you have 100 days to go.It was the longest summer of my life, Ross said.When the countdown reached zero, and Sept. 3 had arrived, Ross didnt have to wait long. On the Huskies second snap, Jake Browning threw him a quick pass for 2 yards. Before the first quarter ended, Ross had caught touchdown passes from Browning of 38 and 50 yards. But those catches werent the things that had infiltrated his sleep.Washington didnt have to return a kickoff until late in the second quarter. The Huskies scored the first 24 points of the game before Rutgers kicked a field goal. Ross went back to the goal line. He caught the kick at the Washington 8, and he ran as if he hadnt run back a kick in two years. Touchdown, Huskies.I actually dreamed about something like that, Ross said. I would talk to the guys about it. I dreamed that the first kickoff return I touched would go to the house. And for it to happen, it was mind-boggling. It wasnt exactly like I pictured it, but it happened.All the doubt, all the swelling, all the pain, all the waiting. All gone. Nearly two years had taken an eternity to pass. When Ross reached the end zone, time stopped again. It was a completely different feeling.It felt unreal, Ross said. I might have been standing there for a long time. My teammates did come and grab me. It was so unreal to me.Ross finished the opener with five catches for 90 yards. He leads the Huskies in touchdowns (eight), receptions (21), kickoff returns (five, 35-yard average) and all-purpose yards (96.2 ypg). John Ross is back, and so are the Huskies. Thats not exactly a coincidence. ' ' '