David Nyika ready for his shot at redemption at amateur world boxing championships in Hamburg

By newshub.co.nz

New Zealand heavyweight David Nyika believes he is ready for a shot at redemption when he fights at the boxing world championships in Hamburg.

The Commonwealth Games light heavyweight champion has struggled to replicate his success in Glasgow since stepping up a division.

He failed to advance past the first round of the world championships in Doha two years ago before missing out on qualifying for the Rio Olympics.

However the 22-year-old has enjoyed his best period as a heavyweight this year, going unbeaten at the World Boxing Series team championship before defending his Oceania title on the Gold Coast in June.

“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve from having input from different coaches which has been valuable,” Nyika told NZ Newswire.

“I’ve definitely started to settle into my groove this year especially having gained some more confidence after coming off four big wins.”

Nyika will attend a boot camp at the English Institute of Sport where he will spar with some of the best boxers in Great Britain.

It will give him the consistent ringwork which isn’t always available in New Zealand.

“I’m really excited about getting some time over in Sheffield which will allow me to adapt to the time difference in Germany, where I’ll be training 3-4 times a day which will be pretty brutal.”

The Hamilton boxer is also not putting any additional pressure on himself to perform when he enters the ring in Hamburg.

He will try not to leave anything in the judge’s hands either.

“At the end of the day I have to punch a guy more than he punches me so I can’t be relying on other people to help me,” he said.