Paalam wins gold at bantamweight

MANILA, Philippines — Carlo Paalam showed his readiness to compete in the heavier division as he shocked Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan in claiming the bantamweight gold via split decision in the ASBC Elite Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan last night.

The Tokyo Olympics flyweight silver medalist needed to muster the last of his energy in the third and final round to survive the heavy-hitting 2021 World Championship silver winner in Belgrade, Serbia and pocket the gold that he wasn’t expected to snare.

“Naturally we’re happy for Carlo. This has been a tough competition for us. But Carlo is tough himself,” Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines president Ed Picson told The STAR.

But the 24-year-old Cagayan de Oro native nearly lost it as he got too cocky for his own good after dominating the opening round as Sabyrkhan engaged the former in a brawl.

It allowed the Kazakh to snatch the second round.

Thankfully, Paalam had enough gas left in the tank in the end and made up for his slow legwork with combinations that connected to preserve the win.

When the smoke of battle cleard, the Filipino had three judges giving him 29-28 scores and one judge giving him a 30-27 score while one went to Sabyrkhan, 29-28.

Paalam made the jump to bantamweight after Jogen Ladon, a former Olympian himself, reclaimed his flyweight spot and represented the country in last May’s Hanoi Southeast Asian Games where he struck gold.

It turned out the right decision as Paalam, if he keeps it up, would get his chance in fulfilling his vow of snaring the Olympic gold in the 2024 Paris Games after falling short in Tokyo a year ago.