01-19-2024, 12:05 PM
David Nyika scores undercard spot at Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk title fight
Stuff sports reporters
January 18, 2024, • 05:20pm
Kiwi boxer David Nyika will be on the undercard at the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk ‘Ring of Fire’ heavyweight title fight next month.
The 28-year-old will meet a yet to be confirmed opponent in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 17.
Nyika - a double Commonwealth Games champion - confirmed the news to his social media followers on Wednesday night.
“The storm is coming,’’ Nyika wrote.
The Kiwi cruiserweight is unbeaten as a professional, having won all eight fights - seven by knockout - since 2021.
His latest victory was a third round TKO of Robert Berridge in Queensland last November.
Nyika spend some time training under Andy Lee and alongside Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker at Fury’s gym in Morecambe, England in 2022.
The Hamilton-reared fighter told Stuff at the time that he had some “brutally honest’’ advice from Fury, who was ”one of the most authentic people you’ll ever meet“.
"And I feel like I've earned his trust enough for him to be open and obviously he's given me the opportunity to train in his gym, which is massive.“
Now, Nyika - who has a training base at Gatton in rural Queensland - is going to be fighting on the undercard at one of Fury’s biggest fights for the title of undisputed world champion.
Another cruiserweight clash will headline the undercard.
Jai Opetaia - unbeaten in 24 fights - will fight Latvia’s ex-world champion Mairis Briedis (28-2) in a bid to regain the IBF world title he vacated to fight Ellis Zorro in Saudi Arabia last December.
Opetaia, an Australian southpaw, knocked out Zorro in the first round.
Fury’s cousin, Isaac Lowe, will meet Afghanistan’s Hasibullah Ahmadi in a featherweight bout.
There will be an all-Britain light featherweight clash between Wales’ IBF world champion Joe Cordina and Northern Ireland’s IBO belt holder Anthony Cacace.
Russian lightheavyweight Sergey Kovalev will meet Sweden’s Robin Safar and opponents have yet to be confirmed for unbeaten heavyweights, Uzbekistan’s 2.01m Bakhodir Jalolov and 19-year-old England-based Moses Itauma.
Stuff sports reporters
January 18, 2024, • 05:20pm
Kiwi boxer David Nyika will be on the undercard at the Tyson Fury-Oleksandr Usyk ‘Ring of Fire’ heavyweight title fight next month.
The 28-year-old will meet a yet to be confirmed opponent in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 17.
Nyika - a double Commonwealth Games champion - confirmed the news to his social media followers on Wednesday night.
“The storm is coming,’’ Nyika wrote.
The Kiwi cruiserweight is unbeaten as a professional, having won all eight fights - seven by knockout - since 2021.
His latest victory was a third round TKO of Robert Berridge in Queensland last November.
Nyika spend some time training under Andy Lee and alongside Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker at Fury’s gym in Morecambe, England in 2022.
The Hamilton-reared fighter told Stuff at the time that he had some “brutally honest’’ advice from Fury, who was ”one of the most authentic people you’ll ever meet“.
"And I feel like I've earned his trust enough for him to be open and obviously he's given me the opportunity to train in his gym, which is massive.“
Now, Nyika - who has a training base at Gatton in rural Queensland - is going to be fighting on the undercard at one of Fury’s biggest fights for the title of undisputed world champion.
Another cruiserweight clash will headline the undercard.
Jai Opetaia - unbeaten in 24 fights - will fight Latvia’s ex-world champion Mairis Briedis (28-2) in a bid to regain the IBF world title he vacated to fight Ellis Zorro in Saudi Arabia last December.
Opetaia, an Australian southpaw, knocked out Zorro in the first round.
Fury’s cousin, Isaac Lowe, will meet Afghanistan’s Hasibullah Ahmadi in a featherweight bout.
There will be an all-Britain light featherweight clash between Wales’ IBF world champion Joe Cordina and Northern Ireland’s IBO belt holder Anthony Cacace.
Russian lightheavyweight Sergey Kovalev will meet Sweden’s Robin Safar and opponents have yet to be confirmed for unbeaten heavyweights, Uzbekistan’s 2.01m Bakhodir Jalolov and 19-year-old England-based Moses Itauma.