Courtesy: POC Media
Carlo Paalam had to go through the proverbial eye of the needle to advance to the men’s 55kg championship match, Wednesday at the Nishio Gymnasium in Nagoya.
Paalam moved closer to ending the Philippines’ 16-year gold-medal drought in Asian Games boxing after beating two-time world champion Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan via a razor-thin split decision win in the semifinals.
The 28-year old Filipino timed his counterpunches well to claim the first round, but his 25-year old Kazakh opponent turned on the pressure in the second to keep the fight close.
Both fighters went at it in the final frame, but things got more complicated after the referee gave Paalam a one-point deduction for allegedly hitting with his palm.
Two scorecards favored Paalam, 29-27 and 29-27, while the other two had Sabyrkhan winning, 29-27 and 30-26. The remaining scorecard read 28-+28, which gave the Olympic silver medalist the nerve-wracking victory.
Paalam, who got a bronze in the 2018 Asiad, will go for gold on Friday, October 2 against Japan’s Rui Yamaguchi.
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