NATIONAL boxing coach Don Abnett and his coaching staff are in a dilemma: Who between veteran Rogen Ladon and Carlo Paalam is the country’s best bet for a potential flyweight slot in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games?
“That decision is going to be tough. They (Ladon and Paalam) are both talented in that position, obviously,” Abnett acknowledged in the Philippine Sportswriters Association online forum last Tuesday.
Paalam, 24, showed his mettle in his Olympic debut when he won a silver medal in the Tokyo Summer Games last year, his only loss a 1-4 setback to Briton Galal Yarfai in the finals.
But the Cagayan de Oro native, who worked as a former scavenger before being lured into amateur boxing, took a long layoff after his Olympic stint, opening the way for the in-form Ladon, 28, to regain his slot in the flyweight ranks.
The 2018 Jakarta Asian Games silver medalist repaid Abnett’s faith by retaining his SEA Games flyweight crown with a pulsating 3-2 split decision win over hometown bet Tran Van Thao last May.
The Bago City native was one of only three boxing gold medalists in the Vietnam Games, the others being bantamweight Ian Clark Bautista and middleweight Felix Eumir Marcial.
Ladon entered the regional games in high spirits after capturing the gold medal in the tough Thailand Open the month before, earning a 3-2 win over former world champion and Tokyo Olympic top seed Amit Panghal of India.
With Paalam, who is back in serious training at the Teacher’s Camp in Baguio City, keen on regaining his flyweight spot in the national team at the expense of Ladon, Abnett admitted the choice would not be easy.
“We have a battery of tests in our selection (for the Olympics). If there is a box-off at all (for the flyweight class), if needed we will bring in independent judges so that it’s done fairly. It’s going to be very tough,” the Aussie mentor pointed out.
