De Pina began boxing at the age of 15 after being bullied by older children in his neighborhood in Santa Cruz.
He made his Games debut at Tokyo 2020, where he lost his opening bout to defending champion Shakhob Zoirov. After returning from Japan, De Pina was offered an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship.
In an effort to improve in the ring, he accepted the scholarship, but had to make a personal sacrifice.
He moved to Lisbon, Portugal to train at the Privilegio Boxing Club in the suburb of Odivelas, but had to leave his then four-year-old daughter Hellen behind in Cape Verde.
“Life in Portugal was not easy,” he explained.
“The hard moments I’ve been through make me stronger. This new status won’t scare me because I know where I come from.”
The money he received from the scholarship was not enough to support his family, and De Pina had to combine his education with working as a carpenter on construction sites to make ends meet.
“The sad thing is that if I worked indoors, I wouldn’t have time to train,” he said.
“I have to quit my education to have money to live on or pay rent.
“When I work in the buildings, I lack the energy to train because boxing requires a lot of sacrifice.”
His decision ultimately paid off, as De Pina won bronze at the 2022 African Championships in Mozambique and then qualified for Paris 2024 at his second attempt via a tournament in Thailand.
