Carlo Paalam Takes Silver in Nagoya After 2-3 Split Decision to Japan's Rui Yamaguchi
Filipino boxer Carlo Paalam, the pride of Cagayan de Oro, took the silver medal in the Men's 55kg final at the Nishio Gymnasium in Nagoya after losing a 2-3 split decision to Rui Yamaguchi of Japan, the host nation's bet. The Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) described the decision as controversial. Fighting out of the red corner, Paalam trailed early, according to the POC post: four of the five judges gave the first round to Yamaguchi, and Yamaguchi took the second round on a 3-2 split on the scorecards. Paalam then went all out in the third and final round and won it on all five scorecards, 10-9 across the board. It was not enough. Judge 1 Jovana Ugrenovic of Serbia and Judge 2 Gintaras Sniuksta of Lithuania scored the bout for Paalam at 29-28 and 30-27, respectively. Judges 3 Giovanni Garcia Giron of Guatemala, 4 Osama Hanafy of Egypt, and 5 Sarra Bouhlel of Tunisia each scored it 29-28 for Yamaguchi.
After the bout, a visibly frustrated Paalam, as the POC described him, said that Uzbek referee Maruf Urdushev kept stopping the action whenever he gained momentum, which broke his rhythm. He said he did his best in the final round, but that he and his team do not control the decision, and that no matter how hard a fighter pushes to win, it is useless if the judges decide to go against him. National team coach Ronald Chavez said the Philippine corner felt the uphill battle from the opening bell and told Paalam to go for a knockout. Chavez also said the referee seemed to single out Paalam, stopping the action whenever Paalam landed a punch. These are the views of Paalam and his coach as reported in the POC post, which does not cite any official finding on the refereeing or judging.
Paalam said the result was not good, but it's okay, and they should move forward. He said he will keep training after a short rest. The POC post adds that he is keeping the door open for a possible run at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Source: Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) Facebook page