updated 6:41 p.m. ET Sept. 4, 2004

FLINT, Mich. - Boxer Andre Dirrell returned to his hometown, getting the key to the city after winning a bronze medal at the Athens Olympics.

The middleweight received a mayoral proclamation Friday during a ceremony outside City Hall, and promised more victories as a professional.

“This is a very special moment in my life,” he said.

Dirrell displayed a tattoo on his back showing the face of his grandfather, who trained him for 10 years, The Flint Journal reported.

Dirrell lost to Kazakhstan’s Gennadiy Golovkin in the semifinals and was one of only two medalists on the U.S. boxing team — the worst American performance in 56 years. Light heavyweight Andre Ward won a gold medal, the U.S. team’s first since 1996.

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