Demetrius Andrade, 20, wears his Olympic jersey following his return from China, where he lost in the boxing quarterfinals.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

PROVIDENCE — It was the opportunity of a lifetime, so Demetrius Andrade left his family and friends 10 months before the Beijing Olympics to train with the U.S. boxing team at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

When it was all said and done, he didn’t bring home the gold medal that he had dreamed about winning when he first put on boxing gloves at the age of 6, but, he said, he earned something more valuable — the ability to be a role model and a positive influence on the lives of today’s young people.

He didn’t know just how much of a role model he was to others until he began reading some of the notes from well-wishers on his Web site, www.boobooboxing.com.

“At the end of the day, everybody kept telling me that I’m an inspiration, I’m a role model to these young kids, so that’s what I’m grateful for,” Andrade said. “I didn’t come back with the medal, but I know I made a change. I made everybody believe that they can do the same thing, so that’s what really counts.”

He said the biggest thing that he wants kids to know is that they can do anything if they put their hearts and minds into it, and “don’t let anyone ever tell you that you can’t do it.”

“They showed me a lot of love,” Andrade said of his fans. “That gave me courage to keep on going. I fought my heart out, out there.”

As hard as he worked, Andrade was denied a chance to fight for the gold medal. He lost a controversial 11-9 decision to South Korea’s Kim Jungjoo in the quarterfinals.

But when the 20-year-old welterweight arrived at T.F. Green Airport late Tuesday night, he said he got the best award that he could ever receive — his 2-year-old daughter, Autumn.

“It was good to see my family, my loved ones, my little daughter, it was great to be home,” said Andrade, who credits his family for much of his success. “It had been a rough year for me [being away from friends and family] and I can’t say I went out without a bang. The judges took the fight from me, but I’ll say I had a great year [of boxing] at the end of the day.”

The fight that he referred to was his battle with Jungjoo. Andrade, trailing by one point entering the second round, appeared to control the action in the second, third, and fourth rounds, but he still ended up losing in the judges’ eyes.

He was heartbroken after the fight. He says he is still hurting from the decision and that’s why he didn’t tell anyone except his family he was coming home Tuesday night.

“I really didn’t want too many people there because I was still a little emotionally hurt, but now I’m clearing up,” Andrade said. “I’m letting everybody come see me and I’m going to see everybody else, but when I was at the airport, I just wanted to see my mom and [my immediate family].”

His stepmom, Sharon Parker, was the first to reach Andrade when he got off the plane.

“She gave me a big kiss and just said, ‘I love you, don’t worry about it.’ There really wasn’t too much said in the beginning, but as the days went on, we started talking about it a little bit more.”

Slowly, the heartache from the loss began to fade. Andrade said it has helped spending almost every minute that he has been home with Autumn. While he was away training for the Olympics, he said he missed Autumn’s first words and her first steps. Now that he is back, she is showing him everything that she can do, and he loves it.

“I’ve just been chilling, hanging out at my house, playing with my little girl,” Andrade said about what he’s been up to since he returned to Providence. “She has been trying to show me everything that I’ve missed so it’s just great to be back. ... She’s talking now and talking about, ‘give me daps.’ It’s beautiful.”

Andrade said he will take a couple of weeks off from boxing before he announces that he is turning pro. That has been a long-anticipated day for many boxing promoters, who have been trying to sign him over the years.

Andrade has been ranked as the top amateur 152-pound fighter in the country for more than three years.

“The whole plan is to go pro and maybe get one or two fights in by the end of the year,” Andrade said. “There is no point for me to sit back and wait. I’ve been doing this for 15 years and nothing should be stopping me, so I’m going to take a little vacation and then it’s back to the gym, back to the drawing board.”

Andrade said he doesn’t want to get involved in the business side of boxing, he just wants to box.

“Whoever my dad wants me to go with, I’m going to go with, because that’s the only person I can trust in this life,” Andrade said about choosing a promoter.

Andrade made his first public appearance since Beijing last night, at the boxing card held at Twin River, which featured the star of the Contender TV series, Peter Manfredo Jr., in the main event.

Andrade presented an award to former Cranston fighter Gary Balletto (31-3-2, 26 KOs).

“I had a great amateur career,” Andrade said. “I’ve been the man for the last four years, but it’s time to move on. I can’t let the past affect the future. I have to move on and work even harder for these pro games and make a new name for myself.”

So what’s Andrade’s goal going to be as a pro fighter?

“To get those [world title] belts,” Andrade said. “I will get them belts. No judges are going to stop me from getting those belts.”

roblee@projo.com