IT would have been a perfect reunion for the boxing medalists of the Tokyo Olympics in this coming 33rd Southeast Asian Games.
Except for the fact Carlo Paalam won't be part of the 1,600-strong Philippine team to the biennial meet.
A serious bout with the flu prevented the 2020 Olympic silver medal winner from participating in a box off to determine the members who will make up the men's boxing team.
Selected as part of the 13-memberboxing squad are Paalam's fellow Tokyo Olympic medal winners in boxing Nesthy Petecio (60kg) and Eumir Marcial (80kg).
Petecio won silver in Tokyo - and bronze in Paris - while Marcial copped a bronze also in Japan.
Even the country's first ever Olympic gold medal winner in Hidilyn Diaz will also be part of the weightlifting team to this year's SEA Games.
Paalam got sick at a time the selection process was being done for the regional meet in Thailand.
"Carlo caught the flu and wasn't able to train and make weight. Basically, he wasn't prepared for the box off," said Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines executive director Marcus Jarwin Manalo.
A two-time SEA Games gold winner, Paalam was supposed to move up in weight from 54 kg to 57kg, and was to crowd out three-time gold medalist Ian Clark Bautista.
"Hindi talaga kaya ng katawan niya e. Physically, malaki talaga yung impact ng flu or whatever illness he had at the time," said Manalo.
Paalam bids farewell
But to be fair to the native of Bukidnon, the federation asked the coaches to postpone the box off for Paalam's weight category.
"Sabi ko let's settle it on the ring and not yung napili yung isa kasi hindi ready yung isa," said the ABAP official.
But Paalam no longer wanted to stir the hornet's nest. He reached out to Manalo and begged off from the box off.
"Sabi niya he respects the selection process and the timeline. And most of all, he has huge respect for Ian Clark Bautista na alam niyang hindi naman ito basta-basta na boxer," said Manalo.
"So he felt na we will be well represented naman dito sa weight category na ito. And ayaw niya na ring maka-distract sa team."
For now, Paalam has turned his focus for the Asian boxing championships in the first quarter of 2026 and some other major tournaments that will help him earn ranking points for the Olympics in 2028.
"So sa ngayon, dun muna ang focus niya," said the ABAP executive.
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