TOKYO - Carlo Paalam's Cinderella story just got even better on Thursday afternoon as he utterly dominated hometown hero Ryomei Tanaka to get a shot at a Tokyo Olympics gold medal in the men's flyweight division.
Executing the game plan to perfection, Paalam abandoned his usual counter-punching style for a more aggressive approach as he left the outcome beyond doubt after just two rounds before stunned home fans at the Kokugikan Arena.
The 23-year old rising star brought the hammer down in the third round as he completed the emphatic 5-0 win that propelled him to the finals in only his first appearance in this quadrennial conclave.
Paalam now moves on to the finals against Great Britain's Galal Yafai, just one more win from boxing's first gold medal ever and millions in incentive never imagined by the former street scavenger from Cagayan de Oro.
"‘Yung strategy na ginawa ko, idinaan ko sa bilis," said Paalam after moving a win away from delivering another gold to the Philippine coffers after Hidilyn Diaz's victory in weightlifting in the country's best Olympic performance ever.
Any fears that the Philippine bet will suffer a bum decision against the home bet were banished right in the first round when Paalam kept beating Tanaka to the punch and left the Japanese swinging on air when he tried to retaliate.
That continued through the second round as Paalam, quick on his feet and dazzling with his punches, frustrated Tanaka in a now-you-see-me-now-you-don't cat-and-mouse chase that gave him a 20-18 edge on the scorecards of all five judges.
Change in strategy
Instead of counter-punching which Paalam did successfully in his first three fights, Philippine coach Don Abnett said they asked the fighter to stay infront of Tanaka, beat him to the punch, then disengage.
Paalam executed to perfection.
"Kailangang pag-isipan mo ‘yung mga galaw mo tsaka tiwala sa sarili. Kaya nga po kami nagte-training, nage-ensayo para po dito," he added. "Ginawa ko kung ano talaga ‘yung laro ko."
The only real scare in the fight happened in the second round when Paalam was left groggy by an illegal Tanaka punch that hit him on the back of the head, admitting later that he felt na 'tumabingi ang ring.'
"Noong second round, natamaan po ako doon," said Paalam, pointing to the back of his head. He had to hold on for dear life to get through the rest of the round, saying, 'Hinawakan ko na talaga ‘yung paa n’ya.'"
Facing local reporters later, Tanaka admitted he lost the fight fair and square.
“I played the best match ever so I don’t regret anything,” the brother of three-division world champion Kosei Tanaka said through an interpreter. “I don’t feel I lost because the opponent was very good; I just lost to myself.”
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