Tamerlan Tsarnaev Boston Marathon Bomber Boxer Aspired To Compete For USA

One of the alleged suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings, Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed Thursday night, but reportedly was an aspiring USA boxer.

Tsarnaev, 26, once said "I like the USA" after a boxing victory. According to the Lowell Sun, Tsarnaev won a Golden Gloves novice fight at the 178-pound weight division in January 2004.

He came to the U.S. from Chechnya in 2003, with dreams of boxing for America in the Olympics because his home country did not have a team.

"I wanted to fight in the Gloves to see how I would do," Tsarnaev said at the time, according to the Sun. "So far, so good."

Late Thursday night, Tsarnaev and his brother killed an MIT police officer and hurled explosives at police in a car chase, which lead to a gun-battle when they were corned by police. They were the main suspects in the bombings that killed three and injured more than 150 on Monday during the Boston Marathon.

According to authorities, police were able to shoot down Tsarnaev, who was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Police were still searching for his brother Friday morning, who reportedly jumped in an SUV, ran over his brother in the process of getting away from the cops.

Boxing wasn't the only praise he had for the U.S. "I like the USA ... America has a lot of jobs. That's something Russia doesn't have. You have a chance to make money here if you are willing to work."

In a photo essay leading up to the Golden Gloves bouts, he said he thought he could use boxing to earn American citizenship, going so far as to say he thought he could make the U.S. Olympic team, according to the golden gloves website.

He also said in the same essay that he hinted that he wasn't completely comfortable in the U.S., saying:  "I don't have a single American friend, I don't understand them."