Olympic boxer Paalam impresses in Liverpool debut

September 6 ------ Two-time Olympian Carlos Paalam put on a show and carved out a unanimous decision win over Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Chiao-Chun, 5-0, to advance to Round of 32 of the 2025 World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England.

The Tokyo Games silver medalist did not show any sign of rust and impressed in his debut where he gave his Taiwanese foe a heavy beating that convinced the five judges to hand him the opening victory in the men’s 55kg class. Paalam won in all scorecards — 30-26, 30-27, 30-25, 30-27, 30-26 — in the first-ever world championships that lured 540 male and female boxers from 66 national federations across the globe vying in 10 categories in both classes.

With his rousing victory, the 27-year-old pugilist set up a Round of 32 clash with Junior Alcantara of the Dominican Republic Sunday, Sept. 7. Meanwhile, Junmilardo Ogayre advanced to the next round after beating Taipei’s Lai Chu-En, 5-0. in Round of 64 of the men’s 60kg division. He arranged a Last 32 face-off with Kazakh Biibars Zhexen.

Team Philippines takes a break Friday, Sept. 5, before Ronald Chavez reignites the Filipino campaign when he faces Irish Matthew McCole in the men’s 70kg division on Saturday, Sept. 6. In women’s 60kg, Riza Pasuit takes on Ragad Alnaimi of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Round of 32 on the following day. Mark Ashley Fajardo (men’s 65kg) and Jay Bryan Baricuatro (50kg) go for separate wins in the Rounds 32 and 16, respectively.

The Nationals, however, suffered a major blow as Ofelia Magno was ruled off the competition after her genetic sex test results did not come out before the draw, according to ABAP secretary-general Marcus Manalo. “We had to get her test done here upon arrival (organizers arranged for it) because such a test is not available in the Philippines,” said Manalo. “I think World Boxing has to be strict with the eligibility criteria because of the controversies in the Paris Olympics that has resulted in appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).”

Source: mb.com.ph