Paalam banks on ring generalship in hunt for boxing Olympic gold

MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino boxer Carlo Paalam underscored the importance of having tip-top boxing IQ as he punched his way into the men’s 57 kilogram boxing quarterfinals Wednesday night (Manila time).

In round of 16 action Wednesday, the 26-year-old Paalam secured a unanimous decision win over Ireland’s Jude Gallagher to keep his Olympic medal bid alive.

The Olympic silver medalist asserted his mastery over the younger Gallagher as he unleashed a flurry of punches thanks to his blinding speed to bag the victory.

“Unang-una po, yung talino po… to be wise in the ring talaga [ang importante] kasi useless ang lakas mo pag di tatama ng clear punch,” he said in an interview with One Sports after the win.

“Iniisip ko po palagi po na yung lakas magiging 30%, yung talino maging 70%, yun palagi ang mindset ko po kasi para sa akin, yung bigat ng suntok, sobrang bigat talaga kung tutuusin, so talino talaga, kasi useless kung di tatama nang solid,” he added.

Paalam will be facing Australia’s Charlie Senior in the quarterfinals.

The 22-year-old Senior, standing at 5-foot-10, is seeded fourth in the division.

This gives the younger boxer a six-inch height advantage over the Filipino.

Paalam said that he will do his best in training as he aims to improve on his silver medal in Tokyo.

“Ako po, hindi man lahat pinapakita, ano po ako always endurance saka yung pagiging wais. Yun talaga po. Saka sa mga ibang bagay po, pero sa akin po mas prepare ko yung sarili ko po sa kanila, yun ang mindset ko lagi,” he said.

“Gawin ko lang yung best araw-araw na training ko po, tapos every fight ko nga sasabihin ko sa sarili ko na manalo, matalo man ako, gawin ko yung best ko, wala akong sisisihin pagbaba ng ring at ipapanalo ko yung kada laban.”