Carlo Paalam proud to bring glory to the Philippines with gold medal in ASBC championship

Carlo Paalam is proud to once again bring glory to the Philippines with his gold medal in the recently held ASBC Elite Men and Women Boxing Championship.

In an interview on Unang Balita, the Tokyo Olympics silver medalist said he was not expecting to win but was just focused on his fight in the gold medal match against Makhmid Sabyrkhan on November 12.

He said while he was aware of his punches against Sabyrkhan in the men's 54kg class finals, at the end of the day, it was the judges who made the decision.

"Nakita naman na 'yung suntok ko, clear na patama sa kanya. Di naman ako nag-expect po kung sino sa amin [ang mananalo]. Focus ko lang talaga is maglaro sa taas ng ring," Paalam said.

("We saw that my punches clearly hit him. I didn't expect who would win between us. I just focused on performing on the ring.")

"Happy po ako kasi naangat ko ang medalya tapos narinig ko ulit 'yung pambansang awit ng Pilipinas."

("I'm happy to raise the medal and hear the national anthem of the Philippines again.")

Aside from Paalam, Olympic silver medalist Nesthy Petecio also bagged a bronze in the said tourney.

—Justin Kenneth Carandang/MGP, GMA Integrated News