PHNOM PENH. – Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Carlo Paalam and Paul Julyfer Bascon aim for semifinals berths Monday as action in the boxing competition of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games shifts to high gear at the Chroy Changvar Center Hall here.
Paalam takes on Malaysian Daeloniel McDelon in the bantamweight category while Bascon, 26, making his debut in the games, battles Vietnamese Thanh Dat Vu in the light welterweight class.
Both fighters will go into the quarterfinals armed with convincing wins, with Paalam dominating Cambodian Sao Rangsey 5-0 and Bascon also humbling Myanmar’s Aung Soe Moe via the same score in the preliminary round last Saturday.
Paalam said he is comfortable fighting now in the bantamweight category since winning the Asian Boxing Confederation Men’s Elite Boxing Championships’ gold medal last year in Jordan although returning in the flyweight division remains easy for him.
“I am really comfortable in the bantamweight class but there’s no trouble returning to the flyweight (division),” said Paalam, who won the silver in the Tokyo Summer Games as flyweight. “It’s still a long way to go. I will do my best to win against the Malaysian.”
Bascon, a native of Panabo, Davao del Norte, said his next foe is a tough assignment, “that’s why I need to be consistent and aggressive.”
Olympian Irish Magno assured herself of a bronze medal after a 5-0 unanimous decision win over Nan A Mwe Hom of Myanmar in the quarterfinals of women’s bantamweight class.
She eyes a finals berth Tuesday.
