To friends and family growing up, Danny Sabatello was “The Italian Stallion.” No mystery there: His roots trace back to Palermo, Sicily, and he loves the “Rocky” movies. But that was then, back before the former Division I wrestler began to build his own fighting legacy — and not a fictional one like Sylvester Stallone’s iconic character. He needed a moniker all his own.

“I didn’t really want it to be ‘The Italian Stallion.’ That’s Rocky Balboa. It’s been done before,” Sabatello told The Post via Zoom this week. “I’m unique. I’m my own person, and I wanted my own f–king thing. So one of my boys at Purdue, one of my teammates, said ‘The Italian Gangster.’ We still don’t know who exactly said it. Of course, they all claimed that they came up with it. But I absolutely f–king loved it. It’s actually a great representation of myself.”