Carlo Paalam stunned 2021 world championship silver medalist Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan via split decision to capture the men’s 54kg bantamweight gold medal in the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan Saturday, Nov. 12.
Paalam, who moved up to the heavier weight category, scored 30-27 from the United Arab Emirates judge while also gaining the judge’s nod from Slovakia, India and Ireland with identical 29-28 scores to defeat his fancied rival.
Only the judge from Italy gave a 29-28 score in favor of the Kazakh fighter.
A Tokyo Olympics silver medalist in the flyweight class, Paalam was coming off victories over Sanzhai Seidekmatov of Kyrgyzstan in the semifinals, Muhanov Dovlet of Turkmenistan and Joosung Yoon of South Korea.
Apart from Paalam’s feat, the PH team will also go home with two bronze medals courtesy of Nesthy Petecio in the women’s 57kg featherweight and Hergie Bacyadan in the women’s 75kg middleweight class.