HANGZHOU – Carlo Paalam failed to medal in the 19th Asian Games, losing by unanimous decision to reigning world champion Abdumalik Khalokov of Uzbekistan in their quarterfinal bout Tuesday night.
Carlo Paalam vs Abdumalik Khalokov Asian Games recap
The 25-year-old Olympian found his Uzbek foe too crafty and too classy, yielding their 57 kg bout via a score of 5-0 at the Hangzhou gymnasium.
The loss by Paalam left light-heavyweight Eumir Marcial to carry the fight for the nine-man Philippine boxing team. The southpaw Zamboanga native seeks a ticket to the gold medal match on Wednesday against Ahmad Ghousoon of Syria.
Paalam, fighting as a featherweight for the first time, was humble in defeat.
“Hindi ako nagsisi. Ginawa ko yung best ko,” he said. “Bawi next time.”
Winner of a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympiad, Paalam moved up in weight from 54 kg.
Despite fighting as a featherweight for the first time, the Filipino thought he did well against some of the more established fighters in the division.
“Blessing din sa akin kasi hindi rin ako basta-basta sa kanila, takot din sila,” he said of his opponents that included Khalakov, both the reigning world and Asian champion, and World Championship bronze medal winner Uulu Seiitbek of Kyrgyzstan, who lost 4-1 to Paalam in the Round-of-16.
Khalakov, bidding to win his first gold medal in the Asiad, said he took advantage of Paalam’s unfamiliarity in the 57 kg class.
“But I have so much respect to him,” said the Uzbek of his Filipino foe.
The loss had Paalam failing to duplicate his medal feat during the 2018 Asiad in Palembang, Indonesia where he bagged a bronze in the flyweight class.
Still, the door remains open for Paalam to earn a return ticket to the Olympics in Paris via the World Championship in Italy next year.
Boxing is one of six sports in this Asiad that serve as qualifier to the Olympics.
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