Carlo Paalam upsets defending Olympic champ for semis berth, bronze medal

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

There will still be no goodbyes for Carlo Paalam.

The Filipino slugger knew it would be a tough task going up against the reigning Olympic flyweight champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics and guess what; he just delivered one of his best boxing performances.

After landing the more efficient shots, Paalam rose to the occasion and became the fourth Filipino athlete guaranteed of a podium finish in Tokyo and will move on to the men’s semifinals matchup.

Paalam knew he had to be aggressive to outshine Zoirov as the fighter from Uzbekistan was the known aggressor between the two and that was exactly the game plan which they executed to perfection.

The Filipino pug would open the match and dictated the tempo through his volume of punches.

Paalam’s well-timed counter-punching also helped him pile up the points for a clear round one victory against Zoirov.

However, during the second round, Zoirov tried to mix things up and tried for a clinch and punch tactic to disrupt Paalam’s offensive flow.

During one entanglement, both fighters clashed heads that resulted in the referee putting both fighters on the sidelines for a medical check.

Upon further evaluation by the designated match doctor, the fight had to be called off due to a deep cut in Zoirov’s eye and will result in the bout being decided in one round and a half.

Five of the judges voted for a split decision victory in favor of Paalam that gave him an outright seat to the men’s flyweight semifinals match.

Paalam’s recently concluded achievement assured the Philippines of another podium finish and a secured bronze medal under his belt.