Fighting in heavier weight categories, Eumir Marcial (right) and Hergie Bacyadan start their grind in boxing competition at the Paris Games (Photos from Eumir Marcial page)

PARIS (Via PLDT Home)—Boxers Carlo Paalam and Hergie Bacyadan begin their Olympic journeys on Wednesday as they face tough challenges in the Round of 16 at the North Paris Arena.

Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Paalam collides with Jude Gallagher of Ireland at 9:30 p.m. (Philippine time) in the men’s 57kg class in a fight the former garbage scavenger from Cagayan de Oro can’t afford to take lightly.

The 26-year-old Paalam went through lots of adjustments after going up from flyweight to featherweight, but managed to survive all of them.

Meanwhile, the 29-year-old Bacyadan, who hails from Tabuk, Kalinga, will be pitted against Olympic top seed Chinese Li Qian earlier at 6:04 p.m. (Philippine time) in the round-of-16 of the women’s 75kg class.

At 5-foot-10, the Chinese enjoys tremendous advantage over the 5-foot-6 Bacyadan, both physically and mentally.

A bronze medalist in the Rio de Janeiro Games and a silver finisher in the Covid-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, Li is expected to go flat out in Paris for that elusive gold.

Both Paalam and Bacyadan, however, are riding high on the momentum of Aira Villegas’ recent victory, determined to contribute to the Philippines’ rich boxing history.

The Philippines has earned eight of its 15 Olympic medals in the sport, a testament to the nation’s boxing prowess.