The city should honor him with a ticker-tape parade.
RIO DE JANEIRO -- No matter what happens in his gold-medal fight, the city that Shakur Stevenson has represented here in Brazil with class and excellence needs to plan a first-class celebration when he returns home.
Newark should honor its 19-year-old boxer with a ticker-tape parade down Broad Street, with a proclamation declaring that day in his honor, because his Olympic medal represents this city's crowning athletic achievement at least in the past half century.
This is no exaggeration. Newark, a city of 278,000 people, has seen just one of its own win a gold medal since 1956 -- that, of course, belongs to Shaquille O'Neal, who was part of the second Dream Team at the 1996 Olympics.
That was an NBA All-Star team overwhelming the competition. This is a young boxer, who learned the sport at his grandfather's side in the city, with a chance to do something that no American men's boxer has done in 12 years. This is a talented kid with a chance to put his name on a list with Muhammad Ali, George Foreman and Oscar De La Hoya.
"I'm focused," Stevenson said after his title-fight matchup was official. "I'm ready. This is the fight I've been waiting for."
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He is 25-0 internationally but this one, without question, is the biggest challenge of his young life. He will fight Robeisy Ramirez, the 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the lightweight division, at 1:15 pm ET.
Ramirez, like Stevenson, is a sound technical fighter with quick hands and feet who -- at 22 -- is at the very beginning of his promising career.
Ramirez, like Stevenson, is really, really good.
"I think it's a great matchup," Stevenson said. "You've got the 2012 Olympic gold medalist from Cuba, a great fighter, you've got the up-and-coming rising superstar from the USA. We're going to put on a show, and I plan on coming out victorious."
That isn't false bravado. From even a year ago, before he had even won the U.S. trials and punched his ticket to Rio, he has talked about bringing home that gold medal. He has talked about doing it for his family, including his eight younger siblings, and a USA Boxing program desperate for a return to the top of the medal stand.
But he has also talked about winning for Newark. He understands that bad reputation, sometimes deserved, that his home city has around the world. He believes that winning a gold medal would be an inspiration for the young people that live there.
"It means everything to know that our city is behind me," Stevenson told me this spring. "They talk about the negative in our city and everything, but our city is more than all the bad stuff you hear about.
"I want to bring something positive back to the city. I want to inspire the kids and show them that just because you're from Newark doesn't mean you can't be something. It means a lot."
That moment is here, a three-round opportunity to make history. Stevenson was not even born the last time an American boxer faced a Cuban in a gold-medal fight. That was 1996, when light middleweight David Reid knocked out Cuba's Alfredo Duvergelin for a stunning finish to a fight he was losing badly.
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Stevenson, a student of the sport in every way, watched a clip of that fight this week. He has watched Ramirez, too, and said he knows the challenge ahead. He already has had an eventful three weeks in Rio, from hearing the boos from the home crowd before his first fight to listening as Floyd Mayweather declared him the sport's next big thing.
It has all built up to this moment.
"I'm competitive. I like competitive fights," he said. "I like being in the ring with people I think it's going to be good. It's going to be two talented skillful fighters and we're going to see who's going to come out on top. Which is going to be me, though."
No matter what happens, Newark should celebrate his achievement in the coming days. It should welcome him home with ticker-tape and marching bands, because this is the city's biggest athletic achievement in a long time.
Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.