Croc's pre-shichibukai bounty

[Warmmedown]

Croc going from roughly as strong as Arabasta Luffy to marineford/cross guild strong is explained by some as due to him losing strength at some point before meeting Luffy, maybe because of him losing willpower (makes no sense to me, since he's literally trying to become ruler of a WG island and trying to get Pluton) or not training enough.
Supposedly it was only 80 million. Is this correct? Were all bounties lower back then? Because that is ridiculously low for someone amongst the ranks of Jinbei, Mihawk, Doflamingo, Kuma and Hancock. Or for someone able to not feel totally outmatched at marineford. Or for someone the marines see as being a useful ally. Was he just meant to be their ally in the weaker Paradise, while the other shichibukai covered the New World too?

 

[SSJ2]

It makes absolutely no sense in retrospect. He tried to challenge Whitebeard in his youth so he obviously had some level of relevance in the New World, and Whitebeard had a bounty of 5 billion.

I think Hancock had a really low bounty as well before it was unfrozen. Maybe Crocodile also became a Shichibukai at a really young age.

 

[Warmmedown]

Wonder if Whitebeard offered to recruit him, like with Ace. I think Ace just was injured and ended up staying with them after they treated his injuries.

Maybe with Hancock and Crocodile the WG identified pirates they thought had high potential and gave them shichibukai status so they could thrive and then help the government through taxation and suppressing other pirates. Picking winners, basically. In that case I would wonder if they picked any winners who didn't work out and never became powerful pirates.

 

[SSJ2]

Was Whitebeard initially aware that Ace was Roger's son? They had similar appearances and Ace appeared at a time that would make sense chronologically to be Roger's son, plus he was extremely powerful. Maybe Whitebeard was aware of that and that's why he offered him a spot in the crew. Crocodile is extremely egotistical and I can't see Whitebeard being as welcoming to him.

Yeah that's probably what happened. I think it was implied Hancock was given Shichibukai status after the first campaign with her crew. Crocodile might have gotten similar treatment. I think it was implied he already had the status when he took over Alabasta and that pretty far in the past.