Boxers Caitlin Parker and Charlie Senior both earned bronze medals in a rare double for Team Australia at the Paris Olympics.

Caitlin Parker's brave shot at a historic boxing gold fell agonizingly short, with the Australian joining compatriot Charlie Senior and settling for a rare boxing bronze.

Parker is still the first Australian woman to win an Olympic boxing medal, but she was one good round away from either silver or gold as an upset brewed at Roland Garros on Friday morning (AEST).

The Australian boxing captain won on all five cards in a smart first round, but Chinese opponent Li Qian came right back with a 5-0 second round.

Bloodied-nosed, Parker (75kg) swung freely in the final round, but the Chinese favorite won on every card to secure a brilliant comeback and unanimous victory.

Australia's Charlie Senior and Uzbekistan's Abdumalik Khalokov counted each other into a celebratory backflip after their semifinal fight.

There are no third-placed fights in the Olympics, meaning both beaten semifinalists are awarded bronze medals.

Barely 30 minutes earlier, Senior had claimed just the seventh Olympic boxing medal for Australia, well beaten by highly-rated Uzbek Abdumalik Khalokov in their semifinal.

Senior (57kg) won the second round on one judge's card and one round on another judge's card in the final round as he tried valiantly to lay a glove on the razor-sharp Uzbek.

But the Uzbek otherwise cruised in a 5-0 win, with Senior replicating Harry Garside's bronze in Tokyo three years ago that ended Australia's 33-year wait for a boxing medal.

No Australian has ever won an Olympic gold in boxing, with the two defeats meaning the 120-year hunt will continue through to the Los Angeles Games.

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