Olympian Carlo Paalam earns unanimous decision win to start Asian Games campaign
MANILA, Philippines – Olympic silver medalist Carlo Paalam rolled through the first rung of the 19th Asian Games boxing preliminaries at Hangzhou, China, rising to a unanimous decision win over Jordan’s Mohammad Abu Jajeh on Tuesday, September 26.
The only Filipino on deck for the day’s set of matches, the 25-year-old star stamped his class over his Jordanian foe, doing just enough to get all five judges’ nods and roll to the men’s 57 kg round of 16.
Only one judge gave all three rounds to Paalam for a 30-27 tally, while the other four settled for a razor-thin 29-28 decision.
This, however, is still a positive development for the Bukidnon native, who is making his 57 kg weight class debut due to the Olympics shelving his usual 51 kg division for the 2024 Paris Games.
Paalam won both his 2020 Olympic silver and 2018 Asian Games bronze at 51 kg and is now looking to see if his new weight class will also do him wonders in the continental stage. – Rappler.com