Tokyo—Carlo Paalam, the youngest and least-experienced member of the vaunted Philippine boxing team in the Summer Olympic Games, is one win away from the country’s first gold medal in the sport.
Surprising?
Not to his Australian coach Don Abnett.
“I’m not a bit surprised because of his attitude in the training and his performance in the training,” said Abnett after Paalam barged into the gold-medal round following a clinical 5-0 win over Japanese Ryomie Tanaka in the men’s flyweight boxing semifinals at the Kokugikan Arena on Thursday.
Abnett cited Thai boxer Thitisan Panmot, who stunned Asian and Rio Olympic world champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan during the 2020 Asia & Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament in Amman, Jordan.
Panmot had Paalam’s number during the Philippines’ 5-month training session in Thailand, but at the end of the camp, the roles were reversed, with the Filipino finally beating the Thai consistently. At one point during their sparring, Paalam destroyed the Thai, who crumbled with the onslaught, tearing his ACL in the process.
“Carlo put a lot into his training and preparation for the Olympics that every move that boy [Zoirov] made, Carlo had an answer,” said Abnett, referring to Paalam’s 5-0 win over the Uzbek in the quarterfinals. “So I thought he’d get this far in the competition.”
On Saturday at 1 p.m. (Philippine time), Paalam tries to live up to Abnett’s expectations.
Standing in the way of Paalam’s ambition to win gold is Galal Yafai, Britain’s reigning Best Boxer awardee and the champion of the 2018 Golden Belt in Iasi, Romania.
“Hinihiling ko lang po sa kapwa ko Pilipino na ipagdasal ako. Gagawin ko ang best ko, kasi hindi ko naman hawak ‘yung desisyon, tsaka ‘yung kalaban ko kasi magaling din. Tiwala lang sa sarili. Sana ibigay na sa atin ng Panginoon,” said Paalam.
Paalam’s guaranteed silver is the third medal of the boxing team in these games, counting the silver of featherweight Nesthy Petecio and the bronze of middleweight Eumir Marcial, who also on Thursday, dropped a close split decision loss to Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine.
Paalam has been nothing short of phenomenal in the Olympiad.
After defeating Ireland’s Brendan Irvine, 4-1, in his opening bout, Paalam was even more impressive in his next two.
He hammered a unanimous decision win against Algeria’s Mohamed Flissi, before eliminating Zoirov to move into the semifinals against the Japanese, who on Tuesday won a 4-1 verdict in what looked like a lost bout against Rivas Martinez of Colombia.
Turning his opponent’s face into a virtual target practice, Paalam used his speed and smarts to the hilt as he continuously landed 1-2 combinations and darted away from trouble in a masterful show that turned heads at the Kokugikan Arena and assured the Philippines of yet another silver.
“‘Yung strategy na ginawa ko, idinaan ko sa bilis. Ginawa ko kung ano talaga ‘yung laro ko. Kailangang pag-isipan mo ‘yung mga galaw mo tsaka tiwala sa sarili. Kaya nga po kami nagte-training, nage-ensayo para po dito,” said Paalam.
The 23-year-old pride of Cagayan de Oro indeed proved to be a blur for his outclassed Japanese foe, who in the middle of the second round hit Paalam at the back of his head, but the Filipino wisely hung to the Japanese to get his second wind.
“Noong second round, natamaan po ako doon. Kita niyo naman sa second round, binatukan ako, kaya hinawakan ko na talaga ‘yung paa niya para makapahinga ng kaunti,” said Paalam, adding the referee may have not seen the illegal strike because of the swift exchanges.
The silver that is assured Paalam is the third medal of the boxing team in these games, counting the silver of featherweight Nesthy Petecio and the bronze of middleweight Eumir Marcial, who 30 minutes later dropped a close split decision loss to Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine.
Paalam tries to upgrade the color of his medal on Saturday as he shoots for the gold against Great Britain’s Galal Yafai, who 15 minutes earlier edged the Filipino’s 2020 Asia & Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament tormentor Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan in a close 3-2 split decision win.
