Carlo Paalam asking for prayers ahead of gold medal match vs Great Britain’s Yafai

Before Olympic gold medal hopeful Carlo Paalam steps into the ring against Great Britain’s Galal Yafai in the men’s flyweight boxing finals, he’s hoping he can gather a little bit of support from his countrymen.

“I just wish that my fellow Filipinos pray for me. I’ll do my best, but the decision is not in my hands, and the opponent is also skilled,” Paalam said in Filipino in a press release.

“I will just trust in myself. And hopefully, God gives this to us.”

Paalam has been impressive in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics so far, winning convincingly against opponents like Brendan Irvine of Ireland, 4-1, and Mohamed Flissi of Algeria, 5-0, in the opening rounds.

Faced against a world and Olympic champion in Uzebekistan’s Shakhobidin Zoirov in the quarterfinals, Paalam again came up big as he won 4-0-1 in a two-round fight that was stopped early by the referee due to a cut.

And in the semis, the 23-year-old Filipino boxer had to battle against a hometown bet in Japan’s Ryomei Tanaka. He was still able to conquer that challenge, though, winning 5-0.

He is scheduled to fight for the gold medal at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 7.

—JMB, GMA News