Asian Games: Paalam assures PHL medal after beating Chinese foe

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Carlo Paalam guaranteed the Philippines at least a bronze medal after marching to the semifinals of the men’s 55-kilogram boxing tournament in the ongoing 20th Asian Games on Sept. 28, 2026, at Nishio Gymnasium in Japan.

Fresh off a dominant Round of 16 win over India’s Jadumani Singh Mandengbam, Paalam picked up where he left off, edging China’s Zhang Jiamao via a 3-2 split decision in the quarterfinals.

Unlike his straightforward game plan against Mandengbam, where Paalam only needed to maintain distance and throw uppercut counters, the bout against Zhang was a test of character that he passed with flying colors.

It was a seesaw battle from the get-go, but Paalam was able to land cleaner and more effective power punches to get past the talented Chinese pugilist in nip-and-tuck fashion.

Paalam leaned on an aggressive start in the opening round, setting the tempo by hounding Zhang with relentless pressure while throwing jabs on the front foot.

Because of Zhang’s height and reach advantage, Paalam’s goal was to cut the distance and deploy his offense inside the Chinese fighter’s range, which he executed effectively.

The bout turned into a mano-a-mano showdown after Zhang answered with timely counterpunching, hitting Paalam with three clean left hooks at the start of the second round.

However, Paalam adjusted to Zhang’s counterpunching, varying his offense by throwing more overhand rights that caught the Chinese fighter off guard several times.

It was a thrilling third-round exchange as Paalam once again set the tempo, while Zhang came back with a late surge in an attempt to earn more nods from the judges.

At the end of the match, three judges scored the bout in favor of Paalam, 29-28, while the other two had it for Zhang, 30-27 and 29-28.

Paalam will look to book a ticket to the gold medal match today against Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan in a highly anticipated semifinal showdown.