James Palicte figured in a slugfest against Elnur Abduraimov of Uzbekistan, Thursday evening (Manila time) at the Prince Hamzeh Hall, Sport City in Amman, Jordan.
However, the Filipino could not get the judges’ nod.
The 25-year-old native of Bago City, Negros Occidental suffered a tough unanimous decision loss, booting him out lightweight tournament of the 2020 Asia and Oceania Olympic Boxing Qualifiers.
In the crucial third round, Abduraimov had too much gas left in his tank. He landed the better shots against the Filipino, earning him the decision win.
Still, Palicte gave his all.
Coming off a gold medal campaign in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Palicte went toe-to-toe with his opponent. The two exchanged big shots in a wild first round that saw Abduraimov eking out a close one.
It was still the same in the second stanza, but the Uzbek made a bigger impact with his shots.
Then Abduraimov was just a tank in the final chapter of the bout.
Palicte could not join Ian Clark Bautista, Nesthy Petecio, Eumir Marcial, and Riza Pasuit to the next round.
