Carlo Paalam missed out on a second consecutive Olympic medal after a disappointing split decision loss to Charlie Senior of Australia, losing on the cards 2-3, in the Paris 2024 Boxing men’s 57 kg category on Saturday at the North Paris Arena.
The fight came down to the third and final round.
Despite landing some clean punches, Paalam was unable to overcome Senior’s defensive stance and speed, which ultimately secured the victory for the Australian.
It was a surprising setback for one of the country’s top hopes, whose initial performance had been very promising.
The Tokyo 2020 silver medalist won the opening round by exploiting his speed advantage against the taller opponent.
His early performance proved crucial, even though Senior had his moments in the first round.
Senior, the more experienced boxer in this weight class, intensified his efforts in the second round.
Paalam responded by landing effective counters, but Senior ultimately took the second round, edging out the boxer from Bukidnon.
