That was shelved and Crolla, laid up in hospital and in danger of losing his livelihood if the injuries were deemed too serious to allow him back in the ring, reckoned his big moment had passed.
"If we don't do that," one senior White House adviser recalled in an interview with the New York Times, "it's a very serious threat to the success of the legislation and a very serious threat to him.
If, as expected, Mr Abe loses no more than 20-25 seats, rivals inside the LDP might be unable to pose a serious challenge to him for several years.Armed with a fresh mandate, might Mr Abe at last become serious about reform?
Nor does it seem that any other party can offer any serious opposition to him.
"But there's a much more serious side to him that I didn't necessarily see before".
Ten years later, a great coalition led by Albert I the Bear, margrave of Brandenburg, and the Archbishop of Cologne posed a serious threat to him.
Moreover, today, even more than in the past, there is no serious alternative to him as a leader of the Serbs.
"Socially he's goofy and funny and a big jokester but there's a serious side to him so I started to care about him more," she said.
"He is very interested in the Ireland job and there seems no serious impediment to him agreeing terms in the next couple of days," said Murphy.
