Carlo Paalam’s path to the Paris Olympics featherweight gold medal will most likely go through a super fighter from Uzbekistan.

Abdumalik Khalokov, young and brash at 24 years old, is the No. 1 seed in the 57-kilogram division.

Standing at 5-foot-9, Khalokov has a long list of achievements.

He won gold in the 2023 world championships and also took top honors in the Hangzhou Asian Games and Asian championships while fighting as a featherweight.

Khalokov likewise knows Paalam very well, having beaten the Filipino handily in last year’s Asian Games.

Paalam was not among those seeded in Paris despite his stature as a Tokyo Olympics silver medalist probably because that feat was made in the flyweight class.

Khalokovv isn’t the only top gun in the talent-laden weight class.

Worth watching are Kazakhstan’s Makhmud Sabyrkhan and the United States’ Jahmal Harvey.

Sabyrkhan, a southpaw, won gold and silver in the 2023 and 2021 world championships but as a bantamweight.

His lack of experience fighting at feather could hamper his bid.