PNG heavyweight boxer Arthur Lavalou believes he was robbed of the opportunity to bout in the Gold Medal playoff at the Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands.
Lavalou fought fairly and squarely defeating his New Caledonian opposition in the finals, before taking on the Tahitian opponent in the semi-final where he suffered defeat through a miscount by the technical officials.
Lavalou said: “I fought well in the first quarter. In the second quarter, I scored many points but the points were registered against the name of my opponent.”
“If the score was recorded correctly against my name, I would have gone all the way to defeat Niue in the in the Gold medal play-offs,” stated Lavalou.
Although he missed the opportunity for the play-off which was his aim heading to the Honiara event, he is still happy with the result – winning a bronze medal.
The heavyweight boxer fought in the 86kg weight division at the Pacific Games. He debuted for PNG in the 2019 Pacific Games at Apia, Samoa winning a Silver medal.
Lavalou, who is a nurse by profession coming from Manus Province, thanked his bosses for allowing him to participate at the event. He thanked family members and colleagues for their support throughout the tournament.
He also commended his coache Mark Keto and trainer Jack Willie for their guidance at the Pacific Games.