(Updated) MANILA, Philippines — Carlo Paalam, the last man standing in Philippine boxing here, bowed to Japan’s rising star Rui Yamaguchi via split decision in the men’s 55kg final at the 2026 Asian Games on Friday afternoon at the Nishio Gymnasium in Aichi, Japan.
Paalam was close to ending the nation’s 16-year-gold medal drought in Asian Games boxing but the Japanese was very tactical in his movements, outplaying the Filipino in the first two rounds.
Paalam tried to bring the heat in the third and final round but the Japanese survived the Filipino's onslaught.
The last time the Philippines won the gold medal in the boxing event was in 2010, when Rey Saludar topped the men’s 52 kilogram (kg) division in Guangzhou, China.
The first round was rather uneventful as the two pugilists studied each other's moves but in the last five seconds, Paalam charged Yamaguchi to the corner.
However, it was not enough as the Filipino only had one judge to score in his favor.
In the second round, Paalam knew he needed to up his efforts and landed a clean hook at the 1:43 mark, but Yamaguchi was very precise in his movements and jabs that allowed him to earn the nods of the three judges.
With the Japanese ahead after two rounds, Paalam needed a knockout to win the match.
The 28-year-old Filipino Olympian took on the offensive stance but Yamaguchi moved around the ring that prevented Paalam to land solid blows.
Paalam won the third round with all the judges scoring him 10 across the board but was not enough to steal the gold.
Yamaguchi won, 28-29, 27-30, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist was visibly frustrated after the bout.
"I'm so good, but the referee again. I don't know, not a good decision. I don’t know about the decision of the referee; he was paying attention so much to me,” Paalam told the media in Filipino via the Philippine Olympic Committee right after stepping out of the ring.
“If the momentum is on my side, he stops me. The referee looks like has a magnifying glass on me,” he added.
Paalam also explained the frenzy on the third round, knowing that his only chance to win was a knockout.
“I was doing my very best. I was giving my all, because I knew that there was no chance anymore. I was pushing it,” he said.
“Everything was there- my improvement. Again, we don’t hold the decision, even though you want to win; if the judges won’t score in your favor, there’s no point.”
National team coach Ronald Chavez echoed his fighter’s sentiments, noting that the Filipino corner sensed an uphill battle from the opening bell and instructed Paalam to hunt for a knockout.
“We weren’t really robbed in the fight, but that’s where we truly got the short end of the stick—from the referee and the judges. It felt like the referee had it in for us,” Coach Chavez explained.
“In the first round, I even thought we were still ahead… That’s why I told him, ‘This is already looking iffy. This is what we have to do—we have no choice. If you don’t knock him out, nothing else we do will matter.’ You saw it yourself: every time Carlo landed a clean shot, the referee seemed to stop the action or start questioning something. It should have been the blue corner getting scrutinized, but it was always Carlo who was being targeted,” the longtime boxing coach added.
Despite the heartbreak of another narrow finals loss, Paalam vowed to take a brief rest before getting right back to work—while leaving the door open for a potential redemption run at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“It’s not a good feeling, but it’s okay. We’ll just move forward,” Paalam said. “I’ll still give my best, keep training, and rest for a while first.”
