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Hagley Park In Stadium Live Feed"This is the form of my life": How rural Queensland life has transformed surging Kiwi boxer Nyika
Stephen Foote • September 12th, 2024 11:40 am
Nine bouts into his career as a prizefighter, David Nyika has clearly adjusted to life as a professional.
At Wednesday's open workouts, the ever effusive Hamiltonian flashes his million-dollar smile, shakes hands, poses for all the right photos at all of the right angles, and just generally oozes the kind of charm that suggests a future world champion in the making.
And, if you'll excuse the pun, Nyika knows how to roll with the punches. Not even an eleventh-hour change of opponent for his return to Aotearoa to headline Saturday's blockbuster fight night in Auckland could fluster him.
For the past few months of his training camp, the 29-year-old had been preparing to square off with Blake Caparello, until the Australian's failed drug test for elevated levels of testosterone scratched him from the card and left promoters scrambling to find a replacement.
All circumstances considered, they found a credible one in Tommy Karpency. At 38 years old, the American veteran may be on the downward slope, but he boasts an impressive CV which includes wins over the likes of former world champion Chad Dawson alongside multiple world title challenges.
Making the adjustment much easier for Nyika is the similarity between the Caparello and Karpency’s fundamentals (age, height, and stance) and ultimately, Nyika believes the occasion will be better served by his new opponent's more aggressive style.
"Not much changes in terms of how we're preparing," Nyika told SENZ Digital. "I honestly just think that he's going to be a better opponent for the night, for the crowd.
"I don't think Blake was going to be an attractive opponent. I think he was going to be quite negative.
"Karpency has been in there with the best and he beat my favourite boxer in his day, Chad Dawson. He was a former world champion, so I can't look past his experience and just his general ring IQ.
"I know he'll be in shape and he'll come to win."
Since making the transition from a hugely successful amateur career that included an Olympic bronze medal and two Commonwealth Games golds, Nyika has thrown himself into his work. This weekend will mark his fifth pro bout in 15 months and his first in New Zealand since his pro debut at Auckland's Spark Arena in February 2021.
His stint in the quaint English seaside town of Morecambe training with heavyweight great Tyson Fury and cruiserweight world champ Chris Billam-Smith, as well as his "brother" Joseph Parker - is what he credits with opening his eyes to the requirements of being a professional and learning "the art of fighting".
However, Nyika admits the bleak British climate meant his time there was always going to be limited.
He's since taken those lessons with to the rural town of Gatton in south-east Queensland, where he relocated to work full time under renowned Australian trainer Noel Thornberry - another obscure location, but one where the weather is much more to his liking.
"I've just been adopted over there by the town," he said. "Everyone has been super welcoming and I've really adapted well to the quiet life. Coming to a city like Auckland is always a bit like 'woah!' It's a bit over-stimulating.
"I love it over there. It's always sunny, you get nine months of summer. It's a very, very lovely way to live. So close to the earth. You've got fresh air. You've got space. We've got plenty of sparring in Brisbane, which is only an hour's drive away."
The self-professed small-town boy says he's thriving in his new locale, where he's free from distraction and able to focus wholeheartedly on improving his craft.
Under Thornberry's tutelage, Nyika says his game has rapidly evolved, helping him mould his own patented approach to combat he's confident has formed the basis for long-term success.
The process has involved an overhaul to ensure he operates more efficiently in the ring, leaving the days of three-round amateur bouts in the rear-view and leaning on his athleticism to hone him into a 10 and 12-round machine.
"Coming back to Queensland and working with Noel for the past couple of years, I feel like I've really cemented a style that will work against just about anybody now," he said.
"I'm reverting back to some of my natural strengths of being an endurance athlete.
"I'm a slow-twitch athlete naturally, so reverting back from being a fast-twitch athlete - having to be a nine-minute athlete in the amateurs - to becoming a 12-round fighter is where I will really thrive
"Being able to adapt not just mentally, but physiologically, has been a big challenge ,and being in the heat out in Queensland has really helped me get to that next level."
Currently No. 14 in the IBF cruiserweight world rankings, his immediate aim is cementing a spot in the WBO rankings. Another emphatic win this weekend would see him breach those, putting him on course to pursue a couple of belts and unlocking more options for future opponents.
Ideally, Nyika wants to make a quick turnaround and try to find a slot on the undercard for November's cruiserweight unification bout between WBA champ 'Zurdo' Ramirez and his old Morecambe mate Billam-Smith, who holds the WBO strap.
Of course, there's the not insignificant matter of Karpency to care of first, before he can get back to his rural Queensland haven and continue with his newfound passion for sustainable living.
"I'm in really good stead, and I'm looking forward to getting back home to my chickens and my quiet life once this is all said and done.
"My goal is to be fully self-sustainable by 2028. I've put that on my manifestation board. I've got some cool projects but the quiet life is where I thrive, I think.
"I really hope Tommy comes to win because he's going to need all of the luck he can get. I'm in awesome shape and this is the form of my life right now."
