Winning a world title bout in an unexpected rout and then defending it successfully in one of the year's best fights was the last thing on O'Shaquie Foster's mind on Aug. 19, 2017. That night in Omaha, Neb., Terence Crawford knocked out Julius Indongo in the third round of a bout televised on ESPN to become the undisputed super lightweight world champion.
Foster was about 900 miles south, in the Harris County Jail in Houston. He had been accused of attempted murder, though the charge was later lessened to aggravated assault and he ultimately was given probation.
Foster's dreams of boxing glory were on hold at the time, though. He was an amateur of some note, and had won a pair of national Golden Gloves championships. He barely missed a shot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team which competed in London when he lost in the Olympic Trials.
Now, though, he was locked up and life wasn't promising. But by some stroke of luck, the Crawford-Indongo bout was broadcast in the prison where he was confined, and Foster managed to see it. And while times would get worse for him before they got better, it was that fight which provided the impetus that carried Foster to the WBC super featherweight title.
He defeated Rey Vargas by a wide unanimous decision last year in San Antonio, Texas, to capture the belt that was the first that the legendary Floyd Mayweather won. He then successfully defended it on Oct. 28, in Cancün, Mexico, when he knocked out Eduardo Hernandez in the 12th round of a wild fight.
On Friday at The Theater at Madison Square Garden, Foster will defend his belt again when he meets Abraham Nova in New York. Were it not for the blind good luck of happening to catch the Crawford fight on television while locked up, who knows were Foster would be today?
Foster saw the bout in an area of the jail referred to as "the block." It was a holding cell for 12 inmates, with bricks and no windows. There were no security guards and not all of the men who were locked up in there liked each other.
When the fight came on, Foster was intrigued because he and Crawford both liked to switch stances.
"I'm not comparing our styles, because I don't think we fight the same, but as far as fighting orthodox, then fighting southpaw, then back, that's something we both do," Foster said. "We kind of have the same approach in that way. I saw that fight and I'm saying to myself, 'Yeah, OK. I know I can do this.' It was just an eye-opener for me. I knew I had them abilities like Bud has. I had the same talent that I could use.
"So that really touched me because I saw what he did and I knew I could use my talents the same way and have success. But I couldn't do it where I was, and so I knew I had to give it a thousand percent of myself. I was looking at some real time and when I bonded out, I jumped in the gym. I didn't know if I was going to get sentenced to some time or if I was gonna get probation. So I got myself to the gym and I started training and working so I could take advantage of this talent if I got the opportunity."
Before he got out, disaster struck. Hurricane Harvey landed in Houston on April 25, just eight days after Crawford defeated Indongo. The prisoners were not evacuated from the jail, but the power went out for what Foster said was "I don't know, a week or two."
It was a hellacious week. Not all of the prisoners liked each other, and there were no guards nor were there lights. Being in the dark for that long negatively impacts the senses. The only light that they had came when guards arrived to deliver meals and opened the flap to push them in.
It literally can drive one insane.
"You've really got to be strong," Foster said. "Guys were kicking the ceiling like trying to get something open. They were banging on walls, just going crazy in there."
Foster managed to survive it, and when he was put on probation, he vowed to change his life. Now, more than six years later, he's a world champion and will defend the title on Friday on ESPN.
He lost his mother to cancer when he was 12 and that started him down a questionable path. He was raised by his grandmother, who did her best to keep him on the straight and narrow, but he had his ups and downs.
That chance opportunity to see Crawford changed his life for the better. And now he's looking to add to his legacy.
"I respect him, but I'm going to show him that there's levels to this and I'm going to prove to the people why he was running from me in the first place," Foster said. "I'm doing it the right way and you'll see that by the way I [perform]."