The Newark native loses his gold-medal bout to Cuban opponent Robeisy Ramirez.
RIO DE JANEIRO -- Shakur Stevenson lost his gold-medal fight against Robeisy Ramirez on Saturday afternoon, but the Newark boxer will take home a silver medal for his overall performance here.
That is the best result for an American male boxer since 2004 when Andre Ward -- his idol turned mentor -- won gold, even if Stevenson had his sights set on reaching the top of the medal stand.
But Ramirez, the 2012 gold medal winner in the flyweight division, was too good. He handed Stevenson his first loss in 26 international fights, but the boxers were so evenly matched it's hard not to hope for a rematch in the future.
His grandfather and trainer, Wali Moses, was watching from the first row of the arena along with his mother, Malikah Stevenson, and his father, Shahid Guyton. They watched their boxer enter the ring with a smile, only to have chants of "CUBA!" fill the arena when they started fighting.
Ramirez won the first round on all cards. Stevenson won the second. The third was too close to call, but when the judges announced the decision, it was Ramirez's hand that was raised to the sky.
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Stevenson will have plenty to remember about his Olympic experience. He was booed lustily by Brazilian fans during a dominant performance in his first fight. He was called "the next Floyd Mayweather" by the former champ himself after his second fight, another unanimous decision.
Then, as charges of fight fixing dominated the headlines, Stevenson's scheduled semifinal opponent dropped out due to injuries, putting the boxer in the Olympic final by walkover. He promised to put on a show against Ramirez, who at 22 already had an Olympic gold on his resume.
Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.