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CHRISTOPHER L. GASPER

Boxer Shakur Stevenson settles for silver, but he acts like a champ

Shakur Stevenson of the US (right) was inconsolable immediately after his loss to Robeisy Ramirez of Cuba. VALDRIN XHEMAJ/EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

RIO DE JANEIRO — The pain Shakur Stevenson felt wasn’t from any of the punches he absorbed. It was from the sting of defeat and the ache of disappointment.

Even tough guys cry when a dream dies and a late flurry of punches in the final round separates silver from gold.

Trying to restore Olympic glory to Old Glory and become the first American male boxer since light heavyweight Andre Ward in 2004 to capture gold, Stevenson lost the bantamweight gold-medal bout to Cuba’s Robeisy Ramirez in a close split-decision Saturday. Stevenson then lost control of his emotions.

The 19-year-old was distraught after the decision. He pulled his red tank top over his head to hide his tears and quickly shook hands with the Cuban coaches. He bolted from the ring, staining the shirt, pulled back over his face, with tears. When he first tried to fulfill his media obligations he was sobbing and heaving inconsolably and had to be escorted out of the mixed zone.

About 40 minutes later, Stevenson was smiling his New Jersey Turnpike-wide, megawatt smile — the one you’ll soon be seeing in the pros — and requesting to have a picture taken with Ramirez. The two held up their medals with genuine smiles and genuine respect for each other. It was the picture of Olympic spirit.

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Before departing, Stevenson also took a photo with a Cuban journalist.

Stevenson learned more about himself in defeat than he would have in victory. He was able to come back from a devastating decision and conduct himself like a true champion when he wanted to crawl into bed and cry. Learning to exhibit such resilience and maturity on a global stage is more valuable than any medal.

Named after the late rapper Tupac Shakur, Stevenson heeded ’Pac’s words, “Keep Ya Head Up.”

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“I feel like I let a lot of people down. I’m disappointed in myself. I’m crushed, but I’m going to come back stronger,” vowed Stevenson, who replied “definitely not” when asked if he did enough to win.

USA Boxing coach Billy Walsh said his pugilistic pupil had never experienced disappointment like this.

Stevenson entered the Olympics with a 23-0 international record. He’s the first American male to win junior and youth world titles and a Youth Olympic Games gold.

“We often learn more from a loss than we do from a victory because you look at yourself and you look at what didn’t work out,” said Walsh. “When you’re winning, it masks all the cracks. We saw the cracks, and what they were. He has the artillery and the tools to mend that.”

Unless you’re Rocky Marciano, every great boxer has to deal with defeat at some point. Even professionally flawless Floyd “Money” Mayweather only collected a bronze at the 1996 Olympics.

In a sport where getting back up after getting knocked down is a prerequisite, bouncing back from defeat can define an athlete and a career.

Stevenson got off the emotional mat and kept punching. That’s a skill a fighter needs in and out of the ring. It says more about him than any dazzling defense or blinding combination.

It’s what he’ll remember about these Olympics 40 years from now.

This fight rekindled the memories of the once-great Olympic boxing rivalry between the United States and its 90-mile neighbor.

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It had been 20 years since the United States and Cuba duked it out for a gold medal. American light middleweight David Reid dramatically knocked out Alfredo Duvergel in the final round in Atlanta in 1996.

But the US program has deteriorated since then.

The US men did not medal in London and scored but a bronze in Beijing.

Despite the complaints and controversy that have plagued the judging here, resulting in the International Boxing Association’s reassigning its executive director, this wasn’t Roy Jones Jr. getting robbed in 1988.

Ramirez, who won gold in London in the flyweight division, was the aggressor and deserved to win.

The boxers split the first two rounds, with Ramirez winning the first unanimously and Stevenson taking the second in the same fashion.

Not fighting in the semifinal round seemed to slow Stevenson. His opponent, Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin, was forced to withdraw Thursday because of injuries inflicted by Ireland’s Michael Conlan in a highly controversial quarterfinal decision.

The layoff might have explained why Stevenson didn’t come out sharper in the first round, which in the three-round Olympic format proved costly.

“Honestly, nah, I don’t think it affected me at all. Robeisy was the better man,” said Stevenson. “He had a really good round. Congrats to him. Hopefully, we get to meet later on down the line in the pros.”

In the third, Ramirez, who choked back tears of his own on the medal stand, flustered Stevenson with a combination in the final 30 seconds. That seemed to be the difference.

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“It was a close fight. I felt Robeisy won,” said Stevenson. “The last 30 seconds, like you said, he threw a flurry. I don’t think it landed, but he threw it. He is a great boxer. Congrats to him. I will come back stronger.”

That comeback will all but certainly be as a professional. The Newark native has been courted by Mayweather, who came to Rio. Mayweather tweeted he came here to sign Stevenson to his promotion company, and the two were seen hanging at a nearby hotel Wednesday night.

Professionals are allowed to fight in the Olympics now, but Stevenson, who denied signing with Mayweather, said he’s done stepping into a ring with the Olympic rings.

“I don’t really plan on going back to the Olympics at all,” he said. “I plan on going pro, winning a world title, and breaking records.”

But before he could do any of that, Stevenson had to learn to deal with the heartbreak of failing to become the first American male to win a gold medal since 2004.

After a tough start, he handled it like a champ.


Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @cgasper.