Team USA’s Shakur Stevenson Advances to Gold Medal Round In Rio

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil–Team USA boxer Shakur Stevenson of Newark, New Jersey will fight for the bantamweight gold medal after his semifinal opponent Vladimir Nikitin of Russia was forced to withdraw due to injury.

Team USA coach Billy Walsh told Stiff Jab that Stevenson will advance to the bantamweight finals on Saturday by walkover. Walsh said Nikitin pulled out of Thursday’s semifinal because “his face was a mess” according to Russian coaches. Nikitin won a controversial decision over Ireland’s Michael Conlan in his last fight, which many observers felt Conlan won.

The questionable decision prompted Conlan to suggest that Oympic scoring is subject to widespread corruption; he is certainly not the first boxer or coach to make such allegations in these games. Apparently Nikitin sustained enough damage in the Conlan fight that his face is a mess and he is unable to fight in the medal round.

For his part, Stevenson secured himself at least a bronze medal by dispatching Mongolia’s Tsendbaatar Erdenebat by unanimous decision on Tuesday in the quarterfinals. With one more win, Stevenson could be the first American man to win a gold medal in boxing since Andre Ward in 2004.

Flint, Michigan native Claressa Shields became the first American woman to win a gold medal in boxing in 2012 at the London Games. She is advanced to the semifinals of the women’s middleweight tournament with a win on Wednesday.