TOKYO - From the few rounds Don Abnett caught in Ryomei Tanaka's fight against Yuberjen Martinez Rivas on Tuesday, there was immediately one thing the Philippine coach wants Carlo Paalam to avoid doing against the Japanese boxer.
"Game plan will definitely change for this guy," said the Aussie coach, carefully taking down notes for Paalam's semifinal against the home bet on Thursday at the Kokugikan Arena.
While Paalam pulled off impressive victories against fourth seed Mohamed Flissi of Algeria and Olympic, world and Asian champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan, Tanaka can consider himself lucky to get this far.
The brother of three-division world champion Kosei Tanaka was clearly outclassed by Martinez Rivas in their own slambang affair in the quarterfinals and surprisingly came out a 4-1 split decision winner in the eyes of the judges.
Later, the 28-year old was seen vomiting just outside the ring and looked groggy from sheer exhaustion as he was wheeled into the locker room.
His status is unclear after a one-day rest, but Alliance of Boxing Associations of the Philippines (Abap) executive director Ed Picson said Paalam got ready for the semifinal under the premise that Tanaka will be at full strength.
"We’re expecting a healthy and rejuvenated Tanaka tomorrow," said Picson on the eve of the match.
Abnett strategy
Abnett, however, isn't taking chances against Tanaka, if only to assure that Paalam won't suffer the same fate as Nesthy Petecio, who tried to mix it up with Sena Irie but struggled to cope with the Japanese's punch-and-grab style.
Petecio ended up losing a unanimous decision in the gold-medal game.
Abnett said won't be taking any chances against the aggressive Tanaka, saying he prefers the 23-year old to stick to the smart, counter-punching game that has brought him so much success so far.
"They stood there trading punches," Abnett said of Tanaka and Martinez Rivas. "I don't want Carlo to do that. I want him to move or lead off and counter."
And hopefully win.
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