MASAM SPORTS 81: CARLO PAALAM WINS GOLD IN ASIAN ELITE BOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 13 Nov 2022
Carlo Paalam displayed his ring savvy in the heavier division when he scored an upset over top favorite Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan in the process winning the bantamweight gold medal by split decision in the ASBC Elite Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan on Saturday.
Paalam, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist in flyweight poured out every ounce of his power in the final round to outscore the strong and hard-hitting opponent who happens to be the silver medalist in the 2021 World Championship in Belgrade, Serbia.
“Naturally we’re happy for Carlo. This has been a tough competition for us. But Carlo is tough himself,” said Ed Picson, president of Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines (ABAP) as quoted by Star Sports.
Paalam was ahead on points as he outpointed the Kazakh in the first round. In the second round, the 24-year-old Cagayan de Oro fighter became overconfident when Sabyrkhan went on a scuffle as the judges favored Paalam's opponent.
It was good that Paalam survived the final round with enough endurance to preserve the victory. After the end of the final round, Paalam won in the three judges: scorecards with 29-28 and one judge gave him a 30-27 while one favored Sabyrkhan, 29-28.
Paalam moved up to bantamweight category when Rogen Ladon, a 2016 Rio Olympian, fought in the flyweight division and fought in Hanoi Southeast Asian Games in May and won the gold.
He won bronze medals both at the AIBA Youth Asian and World Championships in 2016, and at the Asian Games in 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Paalam now sets his focus in winning the Olympic gold in the 2024 Paris Games after failing to win one in Tokyo last year. He was beaten by British boxer Galal Yafai in the finals of the men's flyweight via a 4–1 split decision.
Sabyrkhan came in as the favorite in the championship match as he snagged the bantamweight silver in the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2021.
But Paalam seized control early by earning identical 10-9 scores from the five judges in the opening round before he held off a compelling challenge from Sabyrkhan in the last two frames to claim the championship.
Paalam outclassed Muhanov Dovlet of Turkmenistan in the round of 16, defeated Yoon Joo-sung of Korea in the quarterfinals, and beat Seidekmatov Sanzhai of Kyrgyzstan in the semifinals to meet Sabyrkhan in the finals.
The Philippines seized three medals in the Asian tournament winning two bronze medals courtesy of Nesthy Petecio in the women’s featherweight and Hergie Bacyadan in the women’s middleweight.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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