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| Carlo Paalam kneels for joy after securing a gold medal match berth in his maiden Olympic stint. Reuters |
By Ozzy Alaba
MANILA (UPDATED) — Carlo Paalam will delay his Olympic sayonara to a later date yet
again with his methodical win on Tuesday afternoon.
But this time, the cusp of golden glory is now at
stake in his decision.
The Filipino boxer showed clinical prowess on premium, trouncing
Japan's Ryomei Tanaka via unanimous decision to barge into the 2020 Tokyo
Olympics men's flyweight finals at the Kokugikan Arena.
Displaying textbook boxing in the semifinals, Paalam
released lethal flurries of blows and blocked the Tajimi native's aggression with perfect timing to get all five judges' nods, nabbing himself a
once-in-a-lifetime shot for Olympiad gold.
The victory marked another historic feat as he became the
first Filipino boxer to march in the gold medal match since Onyok Velasco in
the 1996 Atlanta Games.
He also clinched the boxing squad's second silver, adding to
Nesthy Petecio's silver plum in the women's feather last Tuesday and Eumir
Marcial's bronze in the men's middle.
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Carlo secured his
semifinal slot by forcing a quarterfinal shocker over Uzbekistan's
Shakhabidin Zoirov.
RELATED STORY: Paalam assures PH's 4th Olympic medal on split decision upset vs. Uzbek
The one-time Olympian opened the bout with poise, repulsing the 27-year-old's volume hits with body shots of his own enough to
gain the plugs of the five judges.
Paalam then shifted into his defensive antics and lunged on
his foe on the right moment, landing strong rights and 1-2 combinations on the
southpaw's head in the second frame to set up a one-sided demolition in the
process.
And with his fully-heated arsenal, the blue-clad never
looked back.
The 2019 SEA Games gold medalist served balanced attacks
while maintaining his sturdy wall in the decide, then pounced on the groggy
Tanaka with match-sealing hooks to snag the huge win as time expired.
Meanwhile, the three-weight world champion mounted a
fightback scare when he puffed the Bukidnon-born fighter's pursuit on the
second canto with masterful counterpunches.
But the orthodox's resilience was too much to handle for the
five-foot-six, until he eventually failed to find his groove as time expired.
Carlo will face Great Britain's Galal Yafai in the finale
this Saturday afternoon for a chance to nab the nation's first-ever boxing gold
in the quadrennial meet.
Follow him on Twitter: @English4Lyf
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