PARIS – Carlo Paalam tries to become the first “sure” medalist among Filipino boxers when he battles Australian fourth seed Charlie Senior in the quarterfinal round of the men’s 57kg class in the Paris Olympics on Saturday, Aug. 3, at the North Paris Arena.

To achieve a desired result, Paalam needs to be sharper, quicker and smarter in their 3:30 p.m. (9:46 p.m., Manila time) showdown with Senior who is six inches taller at 5-foot-10.

A victory would assure the former garbage collector another precious metal – a bronze medal.

The Tokyo Games silver medalist have toppled taller rivals before and there’s no reason why he can’t do the same this time.

“Basta follow ko lang strategy ng mga coaches, siguro malaki ang chance ko. Pero hindi puwede mag-relax, Olympics na ito,” said Paalam after beating Irish Jude Galagher via a unanimous decision on Thursday, July 31.

The 22-year-old Galagher was touted as Paalam’s biggest thorn before a possible semis collision with erstwhile Asian Games tormentor Abdumalik Khalolov of Uzbekistan.

Senior, however, is no pushover.

He was superb in his 4-1 win over Belgian Vasile Ustoroi.

The former dancer even regaled the crowd when the Perth boxer celebrated his win with a backflip.

He admitted that he is now feeling the pressure but Senior claimed he does well under intense pressure.

In a story that came out on the page of the Australian Olympic Committee, Senior said: “I didn’t come in here looking for easy fights.”

Senior should be ready as Paalam is expected to pull all the stops in order to advance to the semis for a projected grudge rematch with Khalolov.