Carlo Paalam believes he was robbed of a win against Charlie Senior. Reuters
MANILA—Carlo Paalam broke his silence on Monday after the outcome of his bout against Charlie Senior of Australia was met with puzzled reactions at least from many Filipino boxing fans.
Paalam, like what the other Filipinos thought, believes he won the quarterfinal match on Saturday fair and square.
“This fight seemed easy for me, but the scoring was disappointing. This will not be a good Olympic memory for me,” Paalam said through a Facebook post.
He followed his short statement with heartbreak and facepalm emojis, expressing his disappointment that the judges allegedly did not score the bout right.
One juror in question was Ireland’s Ben McGarrigle, who ultimately gave Round 3 to Senior.
With both pugs already getting the nod of two judges each entering Round 3, McGarrigle, who had it 19-all after two, became the decider on who will be joining the ride to the Roland Garros Stadium in Paris for the final phase of the Paris Olympics boxing event.
McGarrigle thought Senior was the better boxer in the final period to the dismay of the Filipino fans who thought otherwise.
Some sports reporters took to social media to say that they believe Paalam, who seemed like dominated the final round, won the bout.
Canada’s Wade Peterson and Germany’s Susann Kopke also gave Round 3 to Senior, but in the case of Kopke, Paalam was winning the bout in her scorecard.
Peterson, though, gave Senior the full 30 points, which raised some eyebrows too.
Only Bachir Abbar and Piroska Beki gave the third round to Paalam with Abbar scoring the bout 30-27 in total for Paalam.
Dugout Philippines’ unofficial scorecard had it 29-28 for Paalam with him winning Round 3.
Had he won, Paalam would have been the first Filipino to assure himself of a medal in France as his bout at the Paris North Arena in Villepinte ended just as the men’s gymnastics floor exercise final was underway at the Accor Arena in downtown Paris.
Carlos Yulo’s gold medal-clinching stint overshadowed Paalam’s controversial loss, but overnight, Filipino boxing fans still wondered how the latter dropped that bout.