Shakur Stevenson started throwing punches shortly after he could walk. His grandfather began teaching him how to box at age 5, and he has barely lost since he won his first fight at 8.

He dreams of world title belts and enough money to move his mother and eight younger siblings out of his beloved Newark, New Jersey. But first, Stevenson is in Rio de Janeiro to fulfill a dream that has consumed him since he went online and looked up the early history of his favorite boxer, Andre Ward.

“Most people say they want to become a world champion, but he’s actually been obsessed and wanting to win a gold medal his entire boxing career,” said his grandfather, Wali Moses. “And now that he’s reached the epitome of his career and a gold medal is right here, I think he’s starting to roll toward it. The climb has been hard, but he wants it.”

Stevenson doesn’t flinch from the weight on his shoulders heading into the Olympics as the brightest candidate to win the first men’s gold medal in 12 years from once-proud USA Boxing.

Ward was the last American man to claim the top prize with his brilliant performance in Athens, and the London men’s team failed to win any medals at all for the nation that still leads the world in Olympic golds and total medals.

With his speed, skill and unbeaten record in international competition, Stevenson has all the makings of an Olympic champion. A lucrative professional career awaits him in the fall, but the 19-year-old has spent his entire youth focused on the Olympic 123-pound tournament, which begins Aug. 10.

“I don’t feel I’ve really proved myself yet,” Stevenson said. “I’d rather go to Rio first and win a gold medal, and then everybody can talk about me. When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks. I don’t focus on everybody hyping me up. It’s just me getting in that ring and fighting.”

Stevenson’s mother, Malikah, named him after Tupac Shakur, the rapper and social activist who died nine months before her first son was born.