Paalam insists he won Olympic fight vs Aussie

MANILA, Philippines -- Like majority of Filipino boxing fans, Carlo Paalam believes he won against Australia’s Charlie Senior Saturday night (Manila time).

Paalam, who won a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics, had to bow out of the men’ 57 kg medal race after suffering a tough split decision loss against Senior.

The loss came as a surprise. With the match kept in a virtual deadlock after the first two rounds, Paalam went for broke in the final canto.

He seemingly landed more clean punches as Senior tried to swing on him.

But ultimately, three judges ruled in favor of the Australian bet, who is seeded fourth in the division. One judge scored it 30-27, while the two others had him winning 29-28.

The two other judges who gave Paalam the nod scored it 30-27 and 29-28.

“Klaro naman yung score talaga, sa akin lahat e. Wala naman siyang tumatama na ano, ang bawi ko sa kaniya, clear clear. So sorry talaga, ginawa ko ang best talaga kasi lamang na lamang talaga ako e. Pasensya na sa lahat,” an emotional Paalam said in an interview posted by One Sports.

“Lamang po talaga ako sa ano ko e, ang mindset ko talaga ilaro ko ang laro ko. Wala naman talaga yang tama na solid sa akin, puro hampas lang. Sa akin clear na clear. Sobrang ano ko, ganun talaga, naano ko yung kulang sa akin,” he added.

With the loss, the 26-year-old bared that he was battling a number of injuries.

“Sobrang dismayado, siyempre, tinyaga ko e kahit marami akong injury talaga. Marami akong injury, sa legs ko, sa paa ko, sa balikat ko,” he stressed.

“Sobrang sakit pa siya pero pinipilit ko talaga kasi ayaw kong ma-disappoint lalo na yung nasa Pilipinas,” he added.

“Siguro ngayon, siguro pahinga muna ako.”

Eleven Filipinos are still alive in their respective Paris Olympic bids.