SOLID SOLDIER
Alain Tambwe, aka ‘Solid Soldier of God,’ has travelled from Congo to Belgium for his amateur career. Now he hopes to make it in London
YOU’RE from the Congo, how did you get into boxing?
In Africa the most expected thing for you to do it get a diploma, get a degree [but] at one point in my life I decided I’m going to be an athlete, I’m going to be a fighter because I’ve got something in me. I started to train at the gym. The gym was an outside gym, everyone could come training on the sand.
It was good to put yourself outside of your comfort zone. I started to compete there. It was tough, there were tough fighters. Not a lot technique but a lot of heart. They want to win these fights.
After that I got the chance to live in Belgium [studying at university], I say I’m going to do my university [course] and then I’m going to carry on my goal to be a world champion one day. I started fighting there as an amateur, I continued my career as an amateur. I was in the national team of Belgium. What was the area you grew up in like?
I grew up in Kinshasa the capital of Congo. I grew up there. There are a lot of political issues… When there are all these things. You want to help. You want to do your part to help your country. What I say to myself, I just think about my gift and my passion and I say I want to help these people with what I got as a passion. It’s tough to see, it’s hard to see but it is what it is. I come from a big country with a lot of political issues and a lot of hard things to see.
It’s a good place, beautiful place, before all the corruption, before the hard way of life. How hard was boxing in Belgium?
The skills make the difference in Belgium. Not only a brawler, I showed that I could be a good fighter… They came to talk to me and I said why not. They told me they were going to do a lot of competitions outside of the country, sometimes France, sometimes Holland, sometimes Germany, it depends, in Europe. It was a bit tough for me because at the same time I was a student, I needed to carry on my university stuff, I needed to do a job to get money. At the same time I do competitions. It was really tough for me but I tried to manage everything.
It was a good experience, [although] I lost the selection [box-off] to do this big tournament [the Europeans] unfortunately.
It’s life, it is what it is. But it was fun for me. I don’t take it personally. So I’ve boxed in Congo, Belgium, Denmark and Holland. I was expected to be selected to do the European championships but unfortunately I wasn’t selected. I just went to support my team. So now you’ve come to England?
It was tough to live here. London’s not easy. It’s a tough time, in London it’s expensive to live here. The first thing is get a plan and after everything’s going to come one by one.
‘I COME FROM A BIG COUNTRY WITH A LOT OF ISSUES, A LOT OF HARD THINGS TO SEE’