Carlo Paalam fought solidly in the final third round but came up short ending up with a silver medal after losing via split decision in his gold medal round bout against Japanese Rui Yamaguchi at the men’s 55 kg bantamweight boxing final at the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games on Friday at the Nishio Gymnasium.
Paalam, 28, lost the first two rounds but gave everything he had in the last round against Yamaguchi, who tactically fought the Filipino and avoided a tough exchange in the closing round.
The 16-year Asiad gold medal drought remains for the Filipinos in boxing.