ABAP: We wuz robbed

The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) did not mince words after Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Carlo Paalam fell short of the gold medal in the men’s 55-kilogram boxing final of the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.

ABAP president Marcus Manalo believed Paalam did enough to beat Japanese boxer Rui Yamaguchi, questioning the scoring and officiating that left the Filipino with a silver medal at the Nishio Gymnasium on Friday.

Manalo conceded that the opening round was close but said Paalam clearly won the second by landing the cleaner punches.

“I thought we won the bout,” said Manalo when it was announced that Yamaguchi, the only Japanese puncher in the boxing final, was the winner by split decision.

“If the Japanese boxer just keeps attacking, even if it’s just a slight hit, they’ll score more. So Carlo really had to be extra careful, and you really have to land clear punches, which I think is what he did in the second round.”

“If you just count the clear punches landed in the target areas in the second round, I think that round was ours.”

Paalam was the lone medalist in the Philippines’ six-man boxing delegation, allowing the country to match its boxing medal haul from the 2023 Hangzhou Asiad, where Eumir Marcial won silver in the men’s 80kg division.

Olympic medalists Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas failed to reach the podium, while Riza Pasuit, Junmilardo Ogayre and Norlan Petecio suffered early exits.

Manalo also raised concerns over the appointment of one of the referees, noting that the Uzbek official who worked Paalam’s semifinal against China’s Zhang Jianmao was also assigned to the final.

“At the same time, the same referee — the Uzbek referee who officiated his semifinal, who was obviously biased against him during the semifinals — was the one appointed for us in the final,” Manalo said.

“There are a lot of referees who can be appointed. And earlier, as you can see, Carlo’s momentum was stopped. The Japanese boxer was holding on.”

Beyond the silver medal, Manalo said Paalam was deeply disappointed after falling short of his goal of ending the Philippines’ 16-year wait for an Asian Games boxing gold.

Rey Saludar was the last Filipino boxer to win Asiad gold, taking the men’s 52kg title at the 2010 Guangzhou Games.

“And Carlo was extremely disappointed because he really did his best to bring home the gold and end the Philippines’ 16-year gold medal drought,” Manalo said.

“But it wasn’t enough.”