OLYMPIAN Carlo Paalam came up huge for the Philippines anew, bagging the gold in the men’s 54 kg class of the ASBC Asian Elite Men and Women’s Boxing Championships which came to a close on Saturday in Amman, Jordan.
The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist pounded a split decision against top seed Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan to emerge champion in his first foray as a bantamweight.
Paalam, 24, previously campaigned as a flyweight where he provided the country one of its three medals won in last year’s Olympiad.
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The Filipino went through the wringer on his way to the gold, beating No. 2 Sanzhai Seidakmatov of Kyrgyzstan via a 5-0 shutout in the semis to arrange a title showdown with Sabyrkhan.
Carlo Paalam (center) wins gold as Hergie Bacyadan and Nesthy Petecio bag bronze medals.
It was the first major tournament for Paalam since bagging the silver medal in Tokyo.
Fellow Olympian Nesthy Petecio and Hergie Bacyadan also brought home medals from the country’s Asian campaign.
Petecio, also a silver medal winner in the Tokyo Olympics like Paalam, and Bacyadan each won a bronze medals.
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