CARLO Paalam won’t fall into a sense of complacency going to his men’s light-flyweight semifinals against Ryomei Tanaka of Japan in the Tokyo Olympics.
The 23-year-old Filipino said everything is just about even between him and the hometown bet, who was seen being brought out of the Kokugikan Arena in a wheelchair shortly after beating Colombian Yuberjen Herney Martinez Rivas in the quarterfinals.
“Hindi ko naman masasabi na advantage ako, kasi parehas naman kaming may kamay,” said Paalam on Tuesday when he joined silver medalist Nesthy Petecio in a special virtual session of the Philippine Sports Association (PSA) Forum.
“Nakita ko siya, ok naman siya. Nakita ko siya sa room namin.”
Tanaka's decision against Martinez Rivas was unpopular, with not a few spectators inside the arena believing the Colombian got the better end of the exchanges.
The home bet was later seen on a wheelchair on the way to rhe locker room, although he emerged minutes later looking in good condition.
Paalam is riding high on a rousing split decision win over Olympic and world champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan in their quarterfinals match.
The upset win obviously made him the favorite against the 26-year-old Tanaka, brother of former three-division world champion Kosei Tanaka, in their August 5 semifinal.
But Paalam said he’s taking it one step at a time, saying his win over Zoirov is now all behind him.
“Gawin ko yung proseso na dahan-dahan na dumating sa dulo. Hindi muna ako magsasalita,” said the Filipino, gold medal winner in the flyweight class of the 2019 Southeast Asia Games in Manila.
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