Newark parade to honor Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson

NEWARK -- The Brick City will welcome home its Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson on Sunday with a parade through the streets.

The procession honoring the 19-year-old boxer will start at noon in Military Park, head down Broad Street and end at City Hall, where Mayor Ras Baraka will give Stevenson a "key to the city."

Stevenson, a Newark native, this month won silver in the bantamweight finals of the 2016 Rio Games. He finished second in a close match to Cuba's Robeisy Ramirez, inspiring Baraka to publicly announce a parade.

Stevenson began boxing at age 5 under the tutelage of his grandfather, Willie "Wali" Moses, who ran a boxing gym in Newark. Moses coaches Stevenson to this day.

In a Powerade commercial released in April, Stevenson is billed as "Just a Kid from Newark."

Marisa Iati may be reached at miati@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @Marisa_Iati. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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