Chino Trinidad lauds Carlo Paalam's ring generalship in dominant win vs Japanese fighter

Boxing experts applauded Carlo Paalam's masterful performance in the men's flyweight semifinals after his unanimous victory against Ryomei Tanaka of Japan on Thursday.

The win assured the 23-year-old fighter of at least silver medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and earned him a ticket to the finals, where he will face Galal Yafai of Great Britain for the gold.

In Saleema Refran's report on "24 Oras," veteran sports analyst Chino Trinidad said Paalam commanded the ring well in his semis bout.

"Side to side movement, 'yung paggamit mo ng footwork mo, 'yun ang ring generalship," he said. "'Yun ang naging advantage ni Carlo Paalam."

("Side to side movement, your use of footwork, that's ring generalship. That's the advantage of Carlo Paalam.")

Paalam is the last Filipino boxer fighting in Tokyo. Eumir Marcial will go home with a bronze medal after a split decision loss against Ukraine's Oleksandr Khyzhniak in the men's middleweight semifinals.

Meanwhile, Nesthy Petecio made history as the first Filipina boxer to win a medal in the Olympics after bagging a silver in the women's featherweight on Tuesday.

Irish Magno, the first Filipina boxer to qualify for the Olympics, bowed out of the women's flyweight in the Round of 16.

Paalam and Yafai will clash in the gold medal match on Saturday, August 7.

"Kung gagawa tayo ng analogy, si Tanaka is the Mount Fuji of this Tokyo Olympics para kay Carlo Paalam," Trinidad said. "'Yung susunod niyang kalaban would be his Mount Everest."

(If we're going to make an analogy, Tanaka is the Mount Fuji of this Tokyo Olympics for Carlo Paalam. His next opponent would be his Mount Everest.")

—MGP, GMA News