09-10-2024, 11:41 AM
Boxer David Nyika on his quest to be world champion: 'I think we're due for a new superhero'
Marc Hinton
September 8, 2024
David Nyika plots road to cruiserweight world title
Boxer David Nyika has his sights firmly on being a world champion. Ruthless in the ring, Marc Hinton finds this talented fighter’s ‘The Nice Guy’ nickname is just one of his many contradictions.
The first thing that strikes you about David Nyika is this man is too damn good looking to take punches in the face for a living.
The second is the edge he’s carrying as the 1.98-metre professional boxer strides into the room, piercing green eyes darting nervously, feet shuffling and that chiselled face wearing a look of concern.
I soon discover this 29-year-old, who has zero qualms about a sport where your opponent’s aim is to knock your block off, is anxious about a looming bungy jump. This, the personable Nyika doesn’t mind admitting, scares him. It also excites him. He believes wholeheartedly in the benefits of stepping outside your comfort zone on a regular basis.
It’s just one of the contradictions that swirl around this fellow, born and bred in the Waikato, now resident in rural Queensland, who believes he’s on a journey to becoming cruiserweight boxing champion of the world, but isn’t sure where he truly fits on that same planet.
David Nyika has his gaze firmly on being a cruiserweight world champion.
There’s a lot to unpack about David Kieran Nyika, who on Saturday will fight American Tommy Karpency – a late replacement for original opponent Australian Blake Caparello – in Auckland in what promoters Duco believe is a stepping-stone to an eventual world title shot.
The pugilist with the looks of a model. The utter decency that foreshadows a killer instinct. The well-travelled man who’s never felt he belonged anywhere. He’s a Disney-loving, Bonsai-growing, chicken-raising, green-fingered genuinely caring human being who, in fight mode, wants to send you to the hurt locker.
When we first speak, Nyika’s visit to the Sunday office precedes a jump off the nearby Sky Tower to promote his upcoming fight. “I’m not an adrenaline junkie,” he mutters. “But I believe in doing something every day that scares you. If you have social anxiety, opening a door for someone can be hard. Jumping off the Sky Tower is going to be difficult.”
Later, I check in how it went. “The worst part was going up in the elevator, realising how high you’re going … but fun, man, real fun. I conquered my fears, and enjoyed it.”
Appearances are deceiving with Nyika. He’s said he blends in everywhere, but belongs nowhere. He’s a proud Kiwi who carried the flag at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics (where he claimed bronze), but has had issues connecting with the land under his feet. Partly this is because his brown skin comes from African bloodlines – an aspect of his whakapapa he’s still wrapping his head around.
“I only really feel I belong when I’m with my family,” he says with a resigned smile. “Growing up and being welcomed in by the Māori community, the Polynesian community … I never fit in there. Trying to at least be OK in my own skin has been important.
“I love myself. I love that I’m different, and I’ve made being different part of who I am. I get lumped in with minorities everywhere.
“In New Zealand it’s felt like people have turned their noses up at me. If I’m in Spotlight looking for fabric to make a cushion for my dog, wearing a baggy hoodie and stained sweatpants, I’ll pick the nastiest looking old lady to impress …being nice, and bringing people down to size, has been a common theme in discovering my identity. It’s important to be comfortable in your own skin.”
A looming bungy jump - rather than an opponent raining punches - scares David Nyika.
So, has he found that identity?
“I’ve never felt I’m not enough,” adds this man who calls empathy a “superpower”: “But I am a people-pleaser, and it’s not a trait I’m proud of. I haven’t stopped impressing people, and being the ‘Nice Guy’ has become part of my identity.”
This ‘Nice Guy’ is his boxing nickname, and he loves it. His promoters would prefer something far more, well, punchy. But they’ll have to get past Nyika first.
“We’ve got enough evil in the world. I think we’re due for a new super hero …”
It comes from his friend and mentor, former All Black Liam Messam, who at Nyika’s professional debut somehow found his way into his corner, despite not possessing any official credentials. “I said, ‘dude, how did you do that?’ He just said, ‘smile and be nice’. That’s really all it is.
“I couldn't care less what anyone else thinks. I think it’s funny and a fresh find for promoters. I don’t try to be anyone I’m not.”
“I’m curious to know more about who I am and what that means. Eventually I’m going to go to Uganda and do some good over there,” says Nyika, pictured with his grandfather Tom.
What he is, is immensely proud of African heritage he labels his “point of difference”. It stems from grandfather Tom, now 85 and living in Oamaru, who came to New Zealand from Uganda when he was 18 to study dentistry. He returned home, with Welsh wife Jenny and David’s father Simon, upon completion of his studies, but the family fled back to New Zealand in fear for their lives in the 1970s during the Idi Amin regime.
“I’ve never really understood my grandfather,” says Nyika. “I’m curious to know more about who I am and what that means. Eventually I’m going to go to Uganda and do some good over there.”
The boxer will likely have company on that journey of discovery. “I talked about it with my grandfather recently, and he wants to take me to his home town of Moyo… it will be magic realising his dreams as well.”
Nyika is already using his profile to do good. In May, when fighting on the same card as Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh, he campaigned to raise money for the Against Malaria Foundation which works to prevent the deadly disease in Uganda.
Nyika considers himself well travelled. He’s visited 31 countries, mostly through boxing, and has lived in New Zealand, England (Basingstoke aged 7-10) and now Australia.
“I’ve always been a Kiwi boy. I felt validated when Rob Waddell asked me to be flag-bearer at the Olympics. That made me feel like I do belong.”
For the last couple of years, home has been Gatton in south-east Queensland. And, boy, is he happy in this rural town of 7851. He went there to join trainer Noel Thornberry’s small stable. Now that he’s dating the boss’s daughter, social media influencer and ex-Love Island contestant Lexy, he’s even more content.
“It’s an ideal lifestyle for an athlete – the essential services, the gym in Noel’s backyard, nice long open roads for running, plenty of sun, good people … I’m really happy. And Noel is great: his strategic mind sets him apart and I feel really comfortable with the setup.”
Even with the local wildlife.
“Most days I come across a few wriggly creatures out running,” he says. “It keeps me on my toes. The brown snakes are the biggest danger … enough venom to kill 52 men. They lost a puppy in my time here to a brown snake bite.”
But Nyika, who used to take in foster puppies in New Zealand, revels in the lifestyle he and Lexy have established. He grows herbs and vegetables in a garden he built, has nailed together a coop for their four chickens (Peggy Sue, Olaf the Brave, Kevin and Derek) and is caretaker for the apartments where they’re living.
Nyika’s entry into boxing came sort of accidentally, aged 14. He was a natural athlete at school, running cross country, and playing rugby and football, but combat sports piqued his interest in his teenage years, watching the greats, past and present, with his father.
“I was watching a lot of Anderson Silva, and wanted to get into MMA. I went looking for a Muay Thai gym, but there weren’t many around. So I found a boxing gym and stayed there for seven years. My dad signed up at the same time, and my brother (Josh) followed six months later.
“I had my first fight at 15, and the next day I told my coach and dad, I’d be 18 if I made my first Commonwealth Games (where he’d win the first of back-to-back golds), 21 at the Olympics if I get it right, which I didn’t (he missed qualifying for Rio), and then I’d move on to a world championship.”
His first time toe to toe with an opponent?
“I completely forgot how to box until the bell went … then instinct kicked in. It was a competitive fight and I stopped him in the third round with a beautiful jab. His head snapped right back. That was the beginning of the end.”
Or the end of the beginning. From there young David Nyika was hooked. His first international trip came after just seven fights (junior world champs in Kazakhstan where he was the only Kiwi to win, eventually undone by the gold medal-winning Russian).
The courage piece in boxing was never an issue for Nyika. Years battling his older brother (he also has two sisters, Ruby and Zoë) in various activities set him up well. “I was always battling him, finding something to aim towards. It’s become a mentality: I need something to chase.”
Nyika has never fretted about being punched and recounts being bitten twice, headbutted and struck below the belt in various of his 98 amateur and nine professional bouts. But he is also conscious of the dangers of what he does.
“It’s a brutal, emotionally weighted sport. Your soul is laid bare when you have nothing left in the ring. As an amateur I felt like a competitor; in pro boxing you’re a fighter, and you’ll have to overcome your demons.”
Not that Nyika is anticipating too many demons against 38-year-old southpaw Karpency at Auckland’s Viaduct Event Centre. Despite the American journeyman’s solid record – he has had three title shots during a 31-8-1 career mainly in the light heavyweight division – Nyika feels relaxed about a switch-up fight he understands is very much a means to an end.
“That’s boxing,” reflects Nyika of the late change. “My job is to take out whoever my promoters put in front of me – and that’s what I’m going to do. I have a huge amount of respect for a guy like Tommy who has been in with the best and still continues to perform at an elite level –but it’s my time now.
“Tommy Karpency is about to learn that the hard way.”
With a 9-0 record, eight by knockout, Nyika is where he needs to be. The fact he’s now being personally handled by Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker feels like a final piece to the puzzle. He considers Parker a “big brother”, as well as mentor, and his time training with him and heavyweight giant Tyson Fury in Morecombe, England, before his last fight was seminal.
“I never felt like there was never a dumb question, and I feel like I got genuine answers, and got to see the authenticity that he (Parker) possesses today. Even being his sparring partner before my pro debut on his undercard, I remember being bown away. We’d spar and train, I’d drive back to my hotel, and he’d call me after he’d finished another session just to make sure I was OK.
“The way I feel is he’s always been there for me, and this relationship was just meant to be.”
In terms of his timeline, Nyika considers this his “prelude” phase. “I’ve got a lot left in the tank,” he says. “I’m still coming into my physical prime. I don’t see myself slowing any time soon. This is just the beginning.”
Maybe, just maybe, this Nice Guy will finish first.
Marc Hinton
September 8, 2024
David Nyika plots road to cruiserweight world title
Boxer David Nyika has his sights firmly on being a world champion. Ruthless in the ring, Marc Hinton finds this talented fighter’s ‘The Nice Guy’ nickname is just one of his many contradictions.
The first thing that strikes you about David Nyika is this man is too damn good looking to take punches in the face for a living.
The second is the edge he’s carrying as the 1.98-metre professional boxer strides into the room, piercing green eyes darting nervously, feet shuffling and that chiselled face wearing a look of concern.
I soon discover this 29-year-old, who has zero qualms about a sport where your opponent’s aim is to knock your block off, is anxious about a looming bungy jump. This, the personable Nyika doesn’t mind admitting, scares him. It also excites him. He believes wholeheartedly in the benefits of stepping outside your comfort zone on a regular basis.
It’s just one of the contradictions that swirl around this fellow, born and bred in the Waikato, now resident in rural Queensland, who believes he’s on a journey to becoming cruiserweight boxing champion of the world, but isn’t sure where he truly fits on that same planet.
David Nyika has his gaze firmly on being a cruiserweight world champion.
There’s a lot to unpack about David Kieran Nyika, who on Saturday will fight American Tommy Karpency – a late replacement for original opponent Australian Blake Caparello – in Auckland in what promoters Duco believe is a stepping-stone to an eventual world title shot.
The pugilist with the looks of a model. The utter decency that foreshadows a killer instinct. The well-travelled man who’s never felt he belonged anywhere. He’s a Disney-loving, Bonsai-growing, chicken-raising, green-fingered genuinely caring human being who, in fight mode, wants to send you to the hurt locker.
When we first speak, Nyika’s visit to the Sunday office precedes a jump off the nearby Sky Tower to promote his upcoming fight. “I’m not an adrenaline junkie,” he mutters. “But I believe in doing something every day that scares you. If you have social anxiety, opening a door for someone can be hard. Jumping off the Sky Tower is going to be difficult.”
Later, I check in how it went. “The worst part was going up in the elevator, realising how high you’re going … but fun, man, real fun. I conquered my fears, and enjoyed it.”
Appearances are deceiving with Nyika. He’s said he blends in everywhere, but belongs nowhere. He’s a proud Kiwi who carried the flag at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics (where he claimed bronze), but has had issues connecting with the land under his feet. Partly this is because his brown skin comes from African bloodlines – an aspect of his whakapapa he’s still wrapping his head around.
“I only really feel I belong when I’m with my family,” he says with a resigned smile. “Growing up and being welcomed in by the Māori community, the Polynesian community … I never fit in there. Trying to at least be OK in my own skin has been important.
“I love myself. I love that I’m different, and I’ve made being different part of who I am. I get lumped in with minorities everywhere.
“In New Zealand it’s felt like people have turned their noses up at me. If I’m in Spotlight looking for fabric to make a cushion for my dog, wearing a baggy hoodie and stained sweatpants, I’ll pick the nastiest looking old lady to impress …being nice, and bringing people down to size, has been a common theme in discovering my identity. It’s important to be comfortable in your own skin.”
A looming bungy jump - rather than an opponent raining punches - scares David Nyika.
So, has he found that identity?
“I’ve never felt I’m not enough,” adds this man who calls empathy a “superpower”: “But I am a people-pleaser, and it’s not a trait I’m proud of. I haven’t stopped impressing people, and being the ‘Nice Guy’ has become part of my identity.”
This ‘Nice Guy’ is his boxing nickname, and he loves it. His promoters would prefer something far more, well, punchy. But they’ll have to get past Nyika first.
“We’ve got enough evil in the world. I think we’re due for a new super hero …”
It comes from his friend and mentor, former All Black Liam Messam, who at Nyika’s professional debut somehow found his way into his corner, despite not possessing any official credentials. “I said, ‘dude, how did you do that?’ He just said, ‘smile and be nice’. That’s really all it is.
“I couldn't care less what anyone else thinks. I think it’s funny and a fresh find for promoters. I don’t try to be anyone I’m not.”
“I’m curious to know more about who I am and what that means. Eventually I’m going to go to Uganda and do some good over there,” says Nyika, pictured with his grandfather Tom.
What he is, is immensely proud of African heritage he labels his “point of difference”. It stems from grandfather Tom, now 85 and living in Oamaru, who came to New Zealand from Uganda when he was 18 to study dentistry. He returned home, with Welsh wife Jenny and David’s father Simon, upon completion of his studies, but the family fled back to New Zealand in fear for their lives in the 1970s during the Idi Amin regime.
“I’ve never really understood my grandfather,” says Nyika. “I’m curious to know more about who I am and what that means. Eventually I’m going to go to Uganda and do some good over there.”
The boxer will likely have company on that journey of discovery. “I talked about it with my grandfather recently, and he wants to take me to his home town of Moyo… it will be magic realising his dreams as well.”
Nyika is already using his profile to do good. In May, when fighting on the same card as Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh, he campaigned to raise money for the Against Malaria Foundation which works to prevent the deadly disease in Uganda.
Nyika considers himself well travelled. He’s visited 31 countries, mostly through boxing, and has lived in New Zealand, England (Basingstoke aged 7-10) and now Australia.
“I’ve always been a Kiwi boy. I felt validated when Rob Waddell asked me to be flag-bearer at the Olympics. That made me feel like I do belong.”
For the last couple of years, home has been Gatton in south-east Queensland. And, boy, is he happy in this rural town of 7851. He went there to join trainer Noel Thornberry’s small stable. Now that he’s dating the boss’s daughter, social media influencer and ex-Love Island contestant Lexy, he’s even more content.
“It’s an ideal lifestyle for an athlete – the essential services, the gym in Noel’s backyard, nice long open roads for running, plenty of sun, good people … I’m really happy. And Noel is great: his strategic mind sets him apart and I feel really comfortable with the setup.”
Even with the local wildlife.
“Most days I come across a few wriggly creatures out running,” he says. “It keeps me on my toes. The brown snakes are the biggest danger … enough venom to kill 52 men. They lost a puppy in my time here to a brown snake bite.”
But Nyika, who used to take in foster puppies in New Zealand, revels in the lifestyle he and Lexy have established. He grows herbs and vegetables in a garden he built, has nailed together a coop for their four chickens (Peggy Sue, Olaf the Brave, Kevin and Derek) and is caretaker for the apartments where they’re living.
Nyika’s entry into boxing came sort of accidentally, aged 14. He was a natural athlete at school, running cross country, and playing rugby and football, but combat sports piqued his interest in his teenage years, watching the greats, past and present, with his father.
“I was watching a lot of Anderson Silva, and wanted to get into MMA. I went looking for a Muay Thai gym, but there weren’t many around. So I found a boxing gym and stayed there for seven years. My dad signed up at the same time, and my brother (Josh) followed six months later.
“I had my first fight at 15, and the next day I told my coach and dad, I’d be 18 if I made my first Commonwealth Games (where he’d win the first of back-to-back golds), 21 at the Olympics if I get it right, which I didn’t (he missed qualifying for Rio), and then I’d move on to a world championship.”
His first time toe to toe with an opponent?
“I completely forgot how to box until the bell went … then instinct kicked in. It was a competitive fight and I stopped him in the third round with a beautiful jab. His head snapped right back. That was the beginning of the end.”
Or the end of the beginning. From there young David Nyika was hooked. His first international trip came after just seven fights (junior world champs in Kazakhstan where he was the only Kiwi to win, eventually undone by the gold medal-winning Russian).
The courage piece in boxing was never an issue for Nyika. Years battling his older brother (he also has two sisters, Ruby and Zoë) in various activities set him up well. “I was always battling him, finding something to aim towards. It’s become a mentality: I need something to chase.”
Nyika has never fretted about being punched and recounts being bitten twice, headbutted and struck below the belt in various of his 98 amateur and nine professional bouts. But he is also conscious of the dangers of what he does.
“It’s a brutal, emotionally weighted sport. Your soul is laid bare when you have nothing left in the ring. As an amateur I felt like a competitor; in pro boxing you’re a fighter, and you’ll have to overcome your demons.”
Not that Nyika is anticipating too many demons against 38-year-old southpaw Karpency at Auckland’s Viaduct Event Centre. Despite the American journeyman’s solid record – he has had three title shots during a 31-8-1 career mainly in the light heavyweight division – Nyika feels relaxed about a switch-up fight he understands is very much a means to an end.
“That’s boxing,” reflects Nyika of the late change. “My job is to take out whoever my promoters put in front of me – and that’s what I’m going to do. I have a huge amount of respect for a guy like Tommy who has been in with the best and still continues to perform at an elite level –but it’s my time now.
“Tommy Karpency is about to learn that the hard way.”
With a 9-0 record, eight by knockout, Nyika is where he needs to be. The fact he’s now being personally handled by Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker feels like a final piece to the puzzle. He considers Parker a “big brother”, as well as mentor, and his time training with him and heavyweight giant Tyson Fury in Morecombe, England, before his last fight was seminal.
“I never felt like there was never a dumb question, and I feel like I got genuine answers, and got to see the authenticity that he (Parker) possesses today. Even being his sparring partner before my pro debut on his undercard, I remember being bown away. We’d spar and train, I’d drive back to my hotel, and he’d call me after he’d finished another session just to make sure I was OK.
“The way I feel is he’s always been there for me, and this relationship was just meant to be.”
In terms of his timeline, Nyika considers this his “prelude” phase. “I’ve got a lot left in the tank,” he says. “I’m still coming into my physical prime. I don’t see myself slowing any time soon. This is just the beginning.”
Maybe, just maybe, this Nice Guy will finish first.