Charlie Senior chasing Olympic boxing gold after heavy sacrifice

Australian boxer Charlie Senior believes he made the right choice by not attending his grandfather’s funeral to stay focused on his Olympics commitment.

Senior could not say his last goodbyes to his grandfather Dennis, who breathed his last in December after a lengthy battle with cancer.

The 57kg boxer was finalising his preparations for the Olympic qualifiers and could not fly to England, the country he was born in, on such short notice to attend the funeral.

Senior paid tribute to his late grandfather by wearing a gumshield bearing his name as he clinched a split decision victory over Vasile Usturoi in Paris.

“You can’t be there for everything, I’ve missed a lot,” the 22-year-old said earlier this week.

“But I’d do it again.

“I’m missing things for the right reasons.”

Born in Bradford and raised in Perth from the age of two, Senior is competing in memory of his late grandfather.

“I’m sure I’m making him proud,” he said.

Senior faces uphill battle in the quarterfinals

Senior will take on Carlos Palaam in the quarterfinals on Saturday.

The Filipino boxer is out to go one better after claiming the silver medal in Tokyo three years ago.

While the confident but relatively inexperienced Senior could present a challenging test, Palaam will be the undisputed favourite.

Olympics betting sites are yet to post odds for the bout, but the outright market reflects the clear gulf in experience and achievement between the two fighters.

Senior is a distant outsider for gold at $50, while Palaam is one of the usual suspects at $7 with online bookmakers.

Abdulmalik Khalokov, however, is the overwhelming favourite at $2.50 to win gold in this weight class.

Khalokov entered the Olympics as the No.1 seed and has lived up to his ranking.

The Uzbek boxer, who has won featherweight golds at both global and continental level, made light work of his Swedish counterpart Nebil Ibrahim in the round of 16.

Jahmal Harvey follows Khalokov as the second most likely gold medallist, with odds of $3 at BetOnline.

The American secured his place at the Paris Olympics by becoming the featherweight champion at the Pan American Games last autumn.

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