U.S. boxer Shakur Stevenson loses by split decision and has to settle for silver

Two rounds into Saturday’s Olympic bantamweight boxing final, Skakur Stevenson was confident he would win.

“He came back after the second round and said ‘I got this,’” Coach Billy Walsh said.

Then he dropped it, with a flurry of punches from Robeisy Ramirez in the final seconds of the final round persuading two of the three judges to give the round to the Cuban by a point, resulting in a split-decision victory that cost the U.S. its first men’s boxing gold in 12 years.

It was a disappointment that didn’t go down easily.

After British referee Daniel McFarlane raised Ramirez’s hand in victory, Stevenson pulled his red singlet over his head and began to cry. By the time he left, the tears had been joined by cries of anguish and Stevenson, surrounded by his family dropped to his knees.

“I can’t win, man,” Stevenson sobbed.

It isn’t exactly true, because Stevenson, who turned 19 three weeks ago, is a former junior and youth world champion who had never lost in 25 previous international bouts.

The Olympic title was the one he wanted though. And he appeared to have it after landing a left hook midway through the third and final round. The Cuban responded with a flurry of punches — none of them had an impact anywhere but on the judges’ scorecards. Yet they were enough to give Ramirez the gold.

And though the Rio boxing competition has been marred by questionable scoring, leading to the expulsion of some judges and referees, Stevenson nodded when asked if his fight was fair.

“It was a close fight,” Stevenson said after composing himself. “I don’t like to lose.”

Stevenson had to fight just to get to Rio. The oldest of nine children, Stevenson, named after the late rapper Tupac Shakur, grew up poor in a rough part of Newark, N.J., an experience the baby-faced boxer said steeled him for the ring.

But he had never before seen anyone like Ramirez, the Olympic champion as a flyweight four years ago, when Stevenson was just entering high school. On Saturday the Cuban became only the sixth man to win Olympic titles in two weight classes.

Stevenson, meanwhile, was hoping to give the U.S. its first Olympic title since 2004, when Andre Ward won the light-heavyweight title in Athens. Even his silver is the best medal won by an American male in three Olympics. And with light-flyweight Nico Hernandez having earned a bronze earlier in the Rio competition, the U.S. men will come home with twice as many medals — two — as they won in the last two Olympics combined.

Stevenson declined to accept that as consolation, but by the time the fighters filed back into the arena to get their medals, his tears had dried. A smile creased his face when Ramirez jokingly agreed to a series of rematches, provided Stevenson doesn’t turn pro first.

Ramirez shouldn’t bother waiting. Stevenson has drawn the interest of former world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., who came to Rio to watch him fight. Stevenson could sign with Mayweather Promotions in a matter of weeks.

“Right now,” he said, hopeful for the first time since the second round ended, “I’m going to go back and look at my options.”

kevin-baxter@latimes.com

Twitter: @kbaxter11