Fate may have delivered the Kiwi cruiserweight a remarkable opportunity to fight for the world title against Aussie Jai Opetaia, writes Patrick McKendry.
Kiwi cruiserweight David Nyika is on the brink of an astonishing opportunity to fight on the Gold Coast for the IBF world title held by Australian Jai Opetaia.
It has come about due to an injury to Opetaia’s previous opponent Huseyin Cinkara, and while the timing is not ideal – January 8 which represents a little over three weeks to prepare for one of the best southpaws in the world – Nyika is unlikely to dodge it.
Given he trains with Noel Thornberry in Queensland – not far from the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach – the timing will not be as bad for Nyika as it could be for the other potential replacements the IBF have reportedly approached, including Russia's Umar Salamov, Brandon Glanton (US), Robin Safar (Sweden) and Albania's Juergen Uldedaj.
Should the fight between the trans-Tasman rivals be confirmed, it will have come about far earlier than Nyika and his team could have hoped for.
A slow burn rise up the ranks to a mandatory challenge would have been what Nyika, ranked 10th in the world by the IBF, and his team would have expected.
It would also have given the rivalry time to build, the hope being that the interest generated would have made the clash bigger and more lucrative for all involved, but few things are guaranteed in professional boxing, as Nyika well knows and the unfortunate Cinkara can testify to.
Opetaia, at 29 the same age as Nyika, is a driven and ruthless fighter who made his professional debut on the undercard of a Joseph Parker main event in Invercargill in 2015. His next fight was a fortnight later in Melbourne.
Undefeated over 26 professional fights, Opetaia is not fazed by the big occasion either.
After beating Mairis Briedis for the IBF world title in Broadbeach in 2022, Opetaia has defended it in London once and Saudi Arabia three times. Of those four victories, three have come via knockouts.
Nyika, meanwhile, is undefeated after 10 professional bouts without facing the quality of opponent that Opetaia has, although the Kiwi has fought in Manchester and Riyadh and will take a 10cm height and 5cm reach advantage into the ring.
As a double Commonwealth Games gold and Olympic Games bronze medal winner, few things in the game faze Nyika either and he will relish his biggest and most lucrative fight that fate may have just delivered him.
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