No redemption for Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Carlo Paalam, as he misses out the medal rounds of boxing in Paris 2024.
No happy ending for Carlo Paalam in Paris 2024.
Paalam’s redemption arc in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has come to a painful end, dropping his quarterfinal bout against Charlie Senior of Australia via a narrow split decision on Saturday, August 3.
The final round saw the Filipino pride launched a some flurries of punches against Senior early and the rest of the way as the fight was coming to its final minute.
But the judges chose to to see otherwise and gave the Australian the close win and a place in the final four. Senior is set to face Asian Games tormentor Abdumalik Khalolov of Uzbekistan in the semifinal, who won his own quarterfinal duel against José Quiles of Spain via unanimous decision.
In a close-fought contest, Paalam could not sustain a narrow opening-round advantage as an aggressive Senior went toe-to-toe with the Filipino pugilist in some intense exchanges and the better end for the most part to take the second round and tied the score going to the make-or-break final round.
Earlier, Paalam patiently waited for his opportunity in the opening round, using his speed to dodge Senior’s punches and connecting on some openings with his combination punches.
The loss put an end to the pride of Cagayan de Oro's quest for an elusive gold for Team Philippines after coming close to achieving the feat in Tokyo 2020 where he ended up bagging the silver medal as a flyweight.
With Paalam bowing out, the national boxing team is now down to women fighters Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas to carry on the Olympic golden dream.