Houston man attempting to become oldest boxer to qualify for 2024 Olympics: ‘Only thing I wanted’

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — DeRae Crane won’t just swing at things when he’s boxing.

“I’ve just always had a knack for thinking things are interesting,” Crane admitted. “Let me go explore this a little bit. Let me see what’s there.”

And what we see at Prince Boxing Gym in Houston is Crane training and trying for history. At the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in two weeks, Crane, 38, will attempt to become the oldest boxer in U.S. history to make the Olympics.

“I started boxing when I was 9,” Crane noted. “Being an Olympian is the only thing I wanted to do.”

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Crane came out of retirement earlier in 2023 after seven and a half years out of the ring. He did it to take one more shot at his Olympic dream after the age restriction was raised from 35 to 40.

“One: I’m thinking about my son and showing him the example,” Crane said of his 14-year-old son, Solo, a competitive wrestler in Colorado. “Then also thinking: what’s the one thing when I look back on my first 40 years will I regret?”

There is not much “would’ve, should’ve, could’ve” in Crane’s life because he’s accomplished plenty after being raised by a single father in Davenport, Iowa. He moved to Houston to work in energy and recently earned his MBA from Rice University.

Crane is an avid adventurer, a proud skydiver, a motorcycle pilot, and a veteran.

He served six years of active duty in the Army, leaving as a captain. He admits he never intended to deploy to Afghanistan, which he did voluntarily in 2012.

“The person on your left and your right is the reason you go,” Crane said of his military experience. “The people I went through basic training with and officer candidate school were already deployed to their units. Some of them didn’t come home, and that upset me. So after 2012, that’s why I raised my hand to go. I wanted to get in the fight.”

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Crane can fight for his country differently if he earns the one spot in his weight class on Team USA. Knowing these are his final Olympic trials, Crane will go out swinging – as he does in every aspect of his life.

“If it’s what you desire most, you have to explore it.”

The 2023 U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be held Dec. 4-9 in Lafayette, Louisiana.

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