Cooking show?

Carlo Paalam bombed out of the Paris Olympics following a heartbreaking 3-2 setback to Charlie Senior of Australia in the men’s 57-kilogram class of the Paris Olympics at the Bercy Arena in Paris late Saturday.

But Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) secretary general Atty. Wharton Chan wasn’t convinced.

In a social media post, Chan said Paalam’s setback could have been “cooked” in favor of the England-born Australian puncher.

“Cooking show!” Chan said after observing the intense exchanges in the first two rounds. Despite Paalam's strong performance in the third round, using crisp punches and solid defense, the judges still awarded the victory to the 22-year-old Pacific Games champion, sending the Filipino to the exit together with Eumir Marcial and Hergie Bacyadan.

Marcial also raised a howl, wondering how the judges – Shawn Reese of the United States, Bachir Abbar of Morocco, Susann Kopke of Germany, Wade Peterson of Canada, Piroska Beki of Hungary, and Ben McGarrigle of Ireland – decided the outcome of the match.

“Sa second and last round, pano nila iniscore?” said Marcial, who made an exit following a Round of 16 setback to Turabek Khabibullaev of Uzbekistan last Tuesday.

“Nakapikit?”

Apparently, the judges saw nothing and still awarded the win to the two-time Australian champion.