Paalam edges Kazakh world champ, advances to Asiad gold medal match

Carlo Paalam continued his stellar 20th Asian Games campaign after advancing to the gold medal match of the men’s 55-kilogram boxing tournament on Sept. 30, 2026, at Nishio Gymnasium in Japan.

During the action-packed semifinal duel, it was the Filipino pug who came out on top, nipping Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan, the 2025 World Boxing Championships gold medalist, via a 3-2 split decision.

With the win, Paalam will have the chance to halt the PHL’s 16-year Asian Games boxing gold medal drought, aiming to replicate what Rey Saludar achieved during the 2010 edition in Guangzhou, China.

Following a 3-2 split decision win over China’s Zhang Jiamao to secure the PHL delegation a medal, Paalam tore a page from his quarterfinal playbook and remained consistent with his efficient counterpunching.

Paalam neutralized Sabyrkhan’s relentless pressure by throwing calculated counterpunches, helping him take a convincing 4-1 lead on the scorecards heading into the second round.

Every time Sabyrkhan pressed forward while sending a flurry of jabs, the Filipino walking think tank quickly processed his next moves, parrying most of the incoming shots while following them up with a clean right hook.

Paalam also displayed tremendous defense against the offensive-minded Sabyrkhan, leaning on his quick head movement and lateral quickness to evade most of the Kazakh’s attacks.

Knowing that he was trailing after the opening round, Sabyrkhan doubled his aggressiveness in the second frame, stalking Paalam from start to finish to earn a much-needed 3-2 bounce-back on the scorecards.

Although most of his combinations missed, the high volume of punches was enough to sway three of the ringside judges. Paalam maintained his counterpunching, but Sabyrkhan’s work rate stood out, setting up a highly anticipated third-round clash.

Paalam almost fumbled the final round after the official match referee deducted one point from him for a pulling violation, but the Filipino pugilist made his way back, emptying his tank to go toe-to-toe with Sabyrkhan in a classic mano-a-mano stand-up war.

Sabyrkhan leaned on his pressure, but Paalam had another cleaner round, tallying more power punches, including a staggering left hook at the 1:18 mark.

“Sobrang intense po,” Paalam said after qualifying for the gold medal round.

“Thankful po ako kasi nilabas ko yung best ko at tsaka tiwala ang mga coaches ko, the best talaga. Disiplina talaga, nasa sarili.”

Awaiting Paalam in the grand finale of the men’s 55-kilogram division is Japan’s rising star Rui Yamaguchi, who earlier dominated Mongolia’s Bilguunsaikhan Kharkhuu with a lopsided 5-0 unanimous decision win.

GO FOR GOLD, CARLO!