I started boxing after becoming hooligan who loved Football Factory – now I’ve got legendary Lennox Lewis in my corner
CONSTANTINO NANGA has gone from running riot with rough and ready football hooligans to being one of the best unknown light-heavyweight prospects in the world.
The undefeated Angolan-born Swedish slugger had aspirations of emulating Cristiano Ronaldo and playing for Manchester United when he was a youngster.
But he also dreamed of being most notorious hooligan ever after being inspired by a slew of movies, including ‘Football Factory’.
Nanga took to the hooligan lifestyle like a duck to water, relishing the violence which came with each of the Hammarby firm’s encounters with rivals.
But after seeing Nanga do a number on many an opposition firm member, one of the old guard encouraged him to get paid for his love of fighting.
In an exclusive interview with SunSport, the 28-year-old said: “At one stage of my life, I understood that I wouldn’t be that football player.
“So then it was easy for me. I was like, ‘Okay, what’s my second dream?’ Football hooligan.
“And through that football hooliganism, I came into fighting. And the elder in my hooligan firm told me, ‘You’re actually pretty good.’
“‘You should let off that hooligan thing and take this fighting thing seriously.’
“They were the ones who pushed me to take fighting more seriously. So that’s why I’m here.”
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Nanga, however, didn’t treat each subsequent gruelling session at the gym as a means to become a better boxer.
“I had no thought to become a professional fighter,” he admitted.
“Even when train fighting, it was with no intention to do it professionally. Because my intention was to be a football player.
“And my second dream goal was to be a football hooligan, the best in the world. The best in the world.
“So I trained fighting to become the best hooligan.
“I treated hooliganism just like I treat my fighting today, like a professional trying to become the best.”
Nanga may have been training to be the most feared football hooligan on the planet, but his hard graft in the gym paid off in the ring.
The 175lbs prospect has racked up a perfect 12-0 record since making his professional debut in November 2022.
He may not be a household name, but he’s already caught the eye of Brit boxing great Lennox Lewis – who is advising him as he looks to make his way up the ranks.
Being mentored by the undisputed king of the heavyweights is something Nanga is still coming to terms with.
He said: “I’m glad [Lennox has chosen to work with me]. Maybe it was meant [to be], I don’t know.
“But the best thing and what I’m most grateful for is that it could have been another fighter, another promoter or others boxing personalities that I could have met.
“Who also could have given me many benefits and can be beneficial for my career.
“But the fact that it’s Lennox and his personality, his character and who he is as a person, that’s why I’m grateful.
“That’s everything I wished for, you know, in a person as an advisor.”
Lewis sees a bright future for Nanga, so long as he gets the fights he “needs” and takes on board his punchy pearls of wisdom.