Showboating Charly Suarez dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 split decision to long-armed British bet Joe Cordina in their lightweight preliminary match yesterday in the Rio Olympics. The Turkish judge even awarded the three-round bout to Suarez, who turns 28 on Aug. 14, 29-28. But the judges from Morocco and Uzbekistan thought otherwise with scores of 29-28 and 30-27, respectively. The 5-foot-9 Cordina, taller by three inches, employed his left jab to keep Suarez from striking distance although the Filipino entry scored big in the second round with his right hand. The first round was close although Cordina might have earned it by keeping a safe distance from the aggressive Suarez, one of just two Filipino punchers entered in the tournament. Even the third canto was a bit close but Cordina wisely used movement and his piston-like jab to make Suarez look bad and sluggish. In the end, it didn’t appear that [...]
