When he was 10, Carlo Paalam boxed with fellow kids for a bottle of soft drinks. Not a medal or cash prize; just a single bottle of pop.

Paalam didn't know at the time that one day he will be able to make it to the national team that will compete in the 29th Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur next month.

“Laban sa kalye lang po dati,” the Cagayan de Oro native and national boxer said during a lull in the team's training session at Rizal Sports Complex in Manila on Wednesday.

“Ang tawag namin sa mga ganoong laban namin ay ‘face to face.’ Tapos ang premyo ko dati soft drinks.”

But Paalam said he wasn’t always starting fights, stressing that he only picked up boxing to defend himself from bullies.

“May nagsabi sa akin na mag-boxing na lang para matuto akong sumuntok,” he said.

Paalam and some friends once visited a boxing gym in Cagayan de Oro to see whether the sport would appeal to him. He liked what he saw and realized he had the talent for it.

With the proper conditioning and training, Paalam succeeded in various youth competitions such as the Batang Pinoy, Philippine National Games and the national championships.

The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines, the sport's national governing body, saw Paalam's potential and drafted him to its team. He has made sure the ABAP didn't regret its decision.

Paalam, who competes in the 49-kilogram weight class, nabbed the silver in the 2016 world youth championship in St. Petersburg, Russia and the gold in this year's President's Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan.

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National coach Boy Velasco said it was after the Astana competition that the ABAP decided to include Paalam in its list of boxers who will defend the team title in the SEA Games in Malaysia next month.

At 19 years old, the boy who used to fight for soft drinks is now the youngest member of the Philippine national boxing team.

“Si Carlo, although bata sa lahat ng national team members, todo ang preparasyon niya para maging handa siya sa laban. Gusto niyang ipakita na kaya niyang makipagsabayan at pwedeng maasahan,” Velasco said.

Aside from the prospect of possibly winning a gold in the SEA Games, Paalam said he wants to do well as an amateur since his monthly earnings as a national athlete means so much for his family back in Cagayan de Oro. He did not say though, how much he earns.

“Nae-encourage akong lumaban dahil sa kahirapan namin. Gusto kong makatulong sa pamilya kasi kawawa ang mama at papa ko. Kung di ako magsisikap, hindi kami makakakain ng maayos,” he said.

“Ito ang ibinigay na talent sa akin kaya ginagamit ko para makatulog sa pamilya ko.”

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