SA kanyang pinaka-matinding laban, namayani si Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Carlo Paalam.

Kahit pa dumaan sa butas ng karayom, pinayuko ni Paalam si Artur Bazeyan ng Armenia sa kanilang makapigil-hiningang 57kg encounter upang umabante sa quarterfinals ng 2nd World Olympic Qualifying Tournament sa Hua Mak Indoor Stadium sa Bangkok, Thailand.

Bagamat ang final score ay 4-1, hindi naging madali ang laban para kay Paalam na kinailangan pa ng tiebreak matapos mag-tabla ng 28-all sa scorecard ng tatlong judges.

“Ibibigay ko ang buong best ko, para sa Pilipinas kong mahal,” sabi ni Paalam, na nabawasan pa ng one point sa last round.

Pinuri naman Don Abnett, ang Olympic coach ng Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP), si Paalam

“I thought Carlo followed good tactics to win that bout,” sabi ni Abnett sa pahayag na ipinadala sa People’s Tonight/Taliba.

“He boxed good today, landing good backhand straight punches and lead hand hooks. His opponent used clever tactics to make it appear to the referee that Carlo was holding and a point was deducted in the last round.”

Pinaliwanag naman ni ABAP secretary-general Marcus Manalo kung paano naging 4-1 ang decision pabor kay Paalam kahit pa tabla ang mga scores ng tatlong judges.

“Carlo won the first round 3-2, and the second round 5-0,” paliwanag ni Manalo. “Even if he loses the third round 0-5, he would still win the bout 3-2. However, he got a point deduction in the last round for holding and he lost that last round 2-3.

“So, after three rounds, one judge gave it to Carlo, the other one to the Armenian, and it was tied 28-all (dahil sa deduction) with 3 judges.”

“When tied at the end of three rounds, the judges will need to vote on who they think won the bout overall. And as expected, those three went for Carlo. So the final score was 4-1 for him. We did not agree with the point deduction though, we thought it was the Armenian who was putting his head down and holding. Nonetheless, Carlo did more than enough to win and to get the nod from the four judges.”

Ayon kay Manalo, ang tie-break ang official term sa ganung sitwasyon.

“Event regulation says: If the total scores awarded by each judge, including any deduction, are equal at the end of the bout, the judge(s) with equal scores is/are requested to nominate which boxer is the winner of the bout in their opinion.”

Sa quarterfinals, sasabak sa panibagong pagsubok si Paalam laban kay Jose Luis De Los Santos of the Dominican Republic, na kung saan ang mananalo ay lalapit pa sa inaasam na ticket sa Olympic Games sa Paris.