Terence Crawford’s good fortune to be tested by fellow unbeaten champion Viktor Postol

Terence Crawford found himself in a rare position Thursday night. After accidentally leaving his MGM Grand hotel room key too close to his cellphone, the key stopped working.

Crawford, without any identification, was locked out.

The crisis ultimately was resolved without Crawford’s needing to point the front-desk staff to the signage of his face placed throughout the casino.

Crawford is the unbeaten (28-0, 20 knockouts) World Boxing Organization junior-welterweight champion from Omaha, Neb., and on Saturday he fights in an HBO pay-per-view, title-unification bout against unbeaten World Boxing Council champion Viktor Postol of Ukraine.

Crawford, 28, sees the bout as an opportunity to fill the void left by the retirement/hiatus of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

“I keep doing what I’m doing, everything will fall into place,” he said. “I can do multiple things in the ring. I’m not one-dimensional. That plays good for the fans and for my career.”

Crawford’s rise from prospect to champion accelerated when he met former two-division world champion Timothy Bradley in Indio.

Crawford’s former promoter had folded and its stable of fighters became free agents when Bradley was in need of a sparring partner to prepare for a bout in 2011. Crawford forged an almost brotherly friendship with Bradley.

It was exactly what Crawford needed. His previous flirtation with street life brought him to a 2008 incident in which he amazingly survived being shot in the head after a dice game.

“Where he grew up, trouble was all around him. He’s a good-hearted kid,” said Jamie Nollette, Crawford’s fourth-grade teacher. “The gunshot was a big wake-up call for him to say, ‘I’m either going to be dead, or I’ve got to do something different.’ ”

Bradley’s goodness and disciplined family lifestyle rubbed off on Crawford.

Crawford’s fighting skill and ability to throw punches from orthodox and southpaw positions helped Bradley.

Then in 2013, Crawford had a chance to fight Breidis Prescott, who had previously knocked out Amir Khan. Crawford’s manager, Cameron Dunkin, hesitated to take the bout, but Bradley assured him, “That kid is ready. Do it.”

Two fights later, Crawford was a world champion after venturing to England to beat Ricky Burns. Gone were his sparring-partner assignments.

“So it was harder for us,” Bradley’s wife and manager, Monica, said. “But Terence was a champion, so it was good for him.”

As a child, Crawford was known as a disciplinary problem before he came to Nollette’s elementary school class, and even after he left it — but he was well-behaved in her class. The teacher once asked him why.

“Because I knew you cared about me,” he answered.

Now, Crawford and Nollette have made two visits carrying donations to Uganda and Rwanda and they’re planning a return trip in the fall, adding Tanzania to the itinerary.

“They’re all so happy — happy to be alive — and they have nothing,” Crawford said of those he visits. “You see people struggling on a daily basis and you see how spoiled you are.”

Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Postol (28-0, 12 knockouts) trained in Hollywood under seven-time trainer of the year Freddie Roach for Saturday’s bout. It is Postol’s first fight since his inspired rally to knock out Argentina’s heavy hitting Lucas Matthysse in the 10^th round in October.

“Every fight, every round, I get stronger,” Postol said. “I understand [Crawford] is an American. I want everything [from the judges] to be fair and honest in this fight.”

Roach, in his fourth fight with Postol, professes supreme confidence in his fighter, betting $1,000 at the sports book to potentially win $9,000.

“Everyone says my guy’s going to lose, HBO doesn’t even put him on the broadcast [advertising],” Roach said. “They’re simply ignoring us. But there’s a big upset on the way, believe me. I feel it coming.”

It’s certainly not a neutral opinion, but Bradley was asked who’ll win.

“Really close fight,” he said. “I’m going to give Crawford a slight edge because skills pay the bills.”

FAST FACTS

Terence Crawford (28-0, 20 KOS) vs. Viktor Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) for Crawford’s World Boxing Organization junior-welterweight title and Postol’s World Boxing Council junior-welterweight title.

WHEN: Saturday, 6 p.m. Pacific

WHERE: MGM Grand Garden Arena

TELEVISION: HBO pay-per-view, $59.95 (high definition)

UNDERCARD: Oleksandr Gvozdyk (10-0, eight KOs) vs. Tommy Karpency (26-5-1, 15 KOs), light-heavyweights; Jose Benavidez Jr. (24-0, 16 KOs) vs. Francisco Santana (24-4-1, 12 KOs); Oscar Valdez (20-0, 17 KOs) vs. Matias Rueda (26-0, 23 KOs) for vacant WBO featherweight title.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimespugmire