Carlo Paalam became the second Filipino boxer to earn a silver medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after yielding to Great Britain's Galal Yafai in their men's flyweight finals at the Kokugikan Arena Saturday, Aug. 7.
The first round proved costly for Paalam after that momentous eight count fall, which turned the tables in favor of Yafai.
An aggressive Paalam came back in the second round, closing in on Yafai with multiple combinations.
The British boxer, however, landed effective counterpunches enough for him to still get the nod of four judges.
Come the third round, Yafai fought technical to tighten his grip on the gold medal, settling for more range before going for the counter.
Paalam, on his end, couldn't sustain the second round momentum and threw little to no punches.
All five judges handed the Filipino pug the third round but still fell short as Yafai bagged the gold medal with a final score of 29-28, 28-29, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.