By Keith Idec
Twelve years is a long time.
Entirely too long, if you ask Errol Spence Jr. and anyone else associated with USA Boxing. That’s why Spence, a 2012 U.S. Olympian, feels it is extremely important for Shakur Stevenson to become America’s first gold medalist in boxing since Andre Ward won the 178-pound gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
The 19-year-old Stevenson, a highly skilled southpaw from Newark, New Jersey, is scheduled to face Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez in the bantamweight gold-medal match Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Their three-round, 123-pound final is scheduled to start at approximately 1:15 p.m. ET/10:15 p.m. PT and can be viewed live at NBCOlympics.com.
“It’ll turn Shakur Stevenson into a star if he wins a gold medal,” Spence told BoxingScene.com. “It’s something that hasn’t happened since Andre Ward won a gold medal. It would be a great thing for him to win a gold medal. It’s something that I think we need in the American boxing system.”
Spence’s 2012 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team didn’t win a single medal four years ago in London. Before Nico Hernandez, of Wichita, Kansas, won a light flyweight bronze medal last week, only WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder had won an Olympic boxing medal for the United States (bronze in 2008 in Beijing) since Ward won gold 12 years ago.
Stevenson, who is assured at least a silver medal, is 26-0 in international matches during his 11-year amateur career. Ramirez should be the toughest of the three foes Stevenson has faced during the 2016 Summer Olympics.
After receiving a first-round bye, Stevenson beat Brazil’s Robenilson de Jesus in the second round and Mongolia’s Tsendbaatar Erdenebat in the quarterfinals, both by unanimous decision. He advanced to the final by walkover Thursday because Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin couldn’t compete in their 123-pound semifinal due to facial cuts he sustained Tuesday during a highly controversial, unanimous-decision defeat of Ireland’s Michael Conlan in the quarterfinals.
“I saw his first fight in the Olympics,” Spence said. “I thought he did great. He fought the guy from Brazil. I thought he looked good – looked real sharp, looked strong. He came into the fight looking very confident.”
The 26-year-old Spence (20-0, 17 KOs), of DeSoto, Texas, is preparing for an IBF welterweight elimination match against Italy’s Leonard Bundu (33-1-2, 12 KOs) on Sunday in Brooklyn (NBC; 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT).
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
