Tokyo—Carlo Paalam used to just watch Rio Olympics champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan on Youtube, revelling in his wins and using them as an inspiration to get to the Olympic stage.
On Thursday, Paalam met his idol inside the ring, but didn’t stand there in awe, mouth agape.
Instead, Paalam was all business, as he guaranteed another bronze medal for the Philippines after winning on points by split decision against the reigning champion in the flyweight division of the Summer Olympic Games at the Kokugikan Arena on Tuesday.
Told by the coaching staff to put the pressure on the Uzbek early, Paalam obliged, catching the Rio Olympics champion with several combinations, before darting away to safety.
“Pilit po niya akong kinukuha sa first round, pero sabi po ni Coach Ronald (Chavez), dapat makuha mo ‘yung first round para sila ang ma-pressure sa’yo. ‘Yun nga po, nakuha ko ang first round, tapos pine-pressure niya talaga ako. Sabi ng mga coaches ko, ilabas ko lang daw ‘yung laro ko,” said the 23-year-old Paalam.
“Pinapanood ko lang po ang mga laban niya sa Youtube dati, hindi ko akalain na makakalaban ko siya,” added Paalam, discovered by scouts at the “Boxing at the Park” in Cagayan de Oro when he was just 12 years old.
The result was an emphatic first-round score of 5-0, which Paalam may have maintained in the second round before an accidental clash of heads with 1:44 left forced Ukrainian referee Pablo Vasylynchuk to halt play to have the two fighters checked by the ring physician.
With both fighters deemed unfit to continue because of the slight gash in their heads, the bout was halted and awarded to Paalam, who was ahead on points at the time of stoppage, 20-19 on four judges and a tied 19-19 score in the fifth official for a 4-0 win.
“Unang una po sa lahat, nagpapasalamat po ako sa Panginoon sa pagbibigay ng lakas sa akin para maipanalo ko ang laban na ito. Maraming salamat din sa tiwala ng mga coaches ko, sa ABAP at sa PSC. Salamat din po sa mga sumusuporta po sa akin at sa aming lahat na mga atletang Pilipino. Sabi nga po ng Panginoon, ‘Makakaya mo, basta kasama mo ako,” Paalam said.
The road to the gold, however, becomes narrower from here, as Paalam takes on hometown bet Ryomei Tanaka, who 15 minutes earlier, won at 4-1 what looked like a lost bout against Rivas Martinez of Colombia.
Tanaka was transferred out of the arena on a wheelchair because of exhaustion.