Carlo Paalam and Paul Julyfer Bascon are determined to make their mark in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games,
Paalam, who recently won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, will be going up against Malaysian Daeloniel McDelon in the bantamweight category.
Meanwhile, Bascon, who is making his SEA Games debut, will be battling Vietnamese Thanh Dat Vu in the light welterweight class.
The two boxers have already shown their skills in the preliminary rounds, with both of them securing 5-0 victories. Paalam dominated Cambodian Sao Rangsey, while Bascon humbled Myanmar’s Aung Soe Moe.
Now, they are aiming for semifinals berths and are determined to bring home the gold for the Philippines.
Paalam, who won the gold medal at the Asian Boxing Confederation Men’s Elite Boxing Championships last year, said that he is comfortable fighting in the bantamweight category but can easily return to the flyweight division.
“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.”
For Bascon, his next foe is a tough assignment, but he remains confident in his abilities. The 26-year-old boxer from Panabo, Davao del Norte, said that he needs to be consistent and aggressive in his next fight to secure a spot in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Olympian Irish Magno has already secured a bronze medal in the women’s bantamweight class after a unanimous decision win over Myanmar’s Nan A Mwe Hom in the quarterfinals.
Magno is eyeing a finals berth on Tuesday.
