RIO DE JANEIRO -- Team USA men have not won a bantamweight medal in boxing since the 2000 Olympics, but Shakur Stevenson clinched at least a bronze when he advanced to the semifinals, and then at least a silver when he advanced to Saturday’s Rio 2016 Olympics final. Unfortunately, his run ended there, as he fell to Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba in the gold medal match.
Boxer Shakur Stevenson looks at Olympic silver medal as ‘a loss’
Shakur earned the first silver for USA boxing since 2000 but said he didn’t do enough to convince judges he won his fight against Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez.
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
But a silver medal is still a huge accomplishment and should have been more than enough to send Stevenson home happy, while Ramirez earned his well-deserved gold. That was not the case, though.
“I don’t look at that as an accomplishment,” Stevenson said of winning the first silver medal for his country since 2000. “I look at that as a loss.”
Ramirez won 29-28 on two of the three judges’ scorecards. All three judges gave Ramirez the first round and Shakur the second round, but two felt that Ramirez won the third while another thought it went to Shakur. Stevenson doesn’t feel he has done enough to win the decision, too.
“It was a close fight,” he said. “Much respect to the Cuban, Robeisy Ramirez. He did what he had to do and I took my loss.”
“It’s been a great experience,” he added. “I’m kind of disappointed in myself for letting a lot of people down, but I feel like I’ll be back stronger than ever.”
Boxing legend Floyd Mayweather went to Rio de Janeiro and expressed his desire to sign Stevenson to an exclusive deal. The Olympic silver medalist, called “the next Floyd Mayweather” by the retired boxer, clarified that he hasn’t signed a deal with anybody yet.
“Most likely nine times out of 10 I’m gonna turn pro, try to win some world titles and try to break records,” said Stevenson, who would rather fight for a world title as a professional than coming back to the Olympics in 2020 if he has to choose one way or the other. “I’m not going to the pros with a gold medal like I wanted but…”
As for Ramirez, who took the gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, Stevenson hopes he has the chance to avenge this loss as a professional in the United States one day.
“I’d love to fight him down the line. I promise. It’s gonna be a different story,” said Stevenson, calling Ramirez the best boxer he has ever fought. “Hopefully they allow Cubans to go to the pros in America and I’ll definitely fight him there.”
In the women’s flyweight division, Nicola Adams of Great Britain toppled Sarah Ourahmoune of France in the gold medal match on Saturday. It was the first match of the day and ended 39-37 on all three judges’ scorecards. The judges agreed on every single round, including a third round win for Ourahmoune. But it wasn’t enough to get her through, and she will take home the silver medal.
The last gold medal match on the day saw Arlen Lopez of Cuba and Bektemir Melikuziev of Uzbekistan face off in the men’s middleweight division. Lopez dominated Melikuziev for much of the match, taking the first two rounds unanimously. The third round was also given to him by one judge, but two others gave it to Melikuziev. In the end he won, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28.
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