TOKYO Olympics silver medalist Carlo Paalam and Junmilardo Ogayre won their matches in impressive fashion early yesterday morning (Tuesday night in Europe) to advance to the second round of the 74th Strandja Cup at the Arena Sofia in Bulgaria.
Between them, Ogayre had the more impressive outing as he swarmed all over Frenchman Riad Labidi in the opening round with powerful punches, forcing his limping rival to retire just nine seconds into the second round of their featherweight clash.
Paalam was just as sharp, waltzing his way to a unanimous (5-0) decision win over Muzaffer Enver of Turkey in the bantamweight division while light welterweight James Palicte bowed out of contention, losing to German Assan Hansen 1-4.
Scheduled to fight last night was lightweight Paul Julyfer Bascon, who was to meet Kazakh Yerrassyl Tankay for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Tokyo Olympic Games veteran Irish Magno was to take on Spain’s Maria Gonzales Caceres for a place in the quarterfinals.
