David Nyika will hound his Olympic dream after Gold Coast Commonwealth Games

By Stuff.co.nz

David Nyika won his final fight of 2017 against Australia’s Brandon Rees in Auckland.

Kiwi boxer David Nyika will hound his Olympic dream until the first bell rings in Tokyo in 2020.

The Hamilton heavyweight ended another trying year by beating Australian No 2 Brandon Rees courtesy of a stoppage after the first round at Auckland’s ABA Stadium on Saturday. It was Nyika’s sixth win from seven fights in 2017 as Rees was forced to withdraw because of an injured arm.

The only blemish on his record this year was a controversial defeat to reigning Russian Olympic champion Evgeny Tishchenko at the quarter-final stages of the AIBA world championships in August.

MARK TAYLOR/STUFF

A younger David Nyika (left) with coach Rik Ellis a few years back. The pair split this year after falling out prior to the world championships.

Nyika was disillusioned with boxing after the stinging pain of that loss while he was still coming to terms withsplitting with long-time coach Rik Ellis before that tournament in Hamburg, Germany.

But the 22-year-old can now focus solely on winning a second Commonwealth Games gold medal on the Gold Coast in April and then make amends for the lingering disappointment of not qualifying for last year’s Rio Olympics.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF

Nyika heads to Colorado Springs, then Sheffield, before flying to the Gold Coast ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

The next Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020 will be Nyika’s goal after the Commonwealth Games as he puts plans to turn professional on the back-burner while an amateur career is still viable.

“As long as I’ve got backing from High Performance Sport [New Zealand] and there’s some security to staying in an amateur sport,” Nyika said.

“It does get a little bit tricky when you’re having to fund everything yourself. Like I’ve always said, the Olympics has always been one of my dreams and that’s something I’m going to hound until I get there.”

GETTY IMAGES

Can Nyika win another gold medal at the Commonwealth Games?

Nyika has financial support from sponsors and High Performance Sport New Zealand that he says is well under control for 2018, but he’s still adjusting to life without former coach Ellis.

The pair split before the world championships after working together for eight years, which included the outstanding highlight of Nyika’s light heavyweight gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.

Nyika said he was happy with his head space with the Gold Coast on the horizon.

“I’ve been really happy with the way I’ve performed given the circumstances – especially with losing a coach and trying to figure out and get my bearings from that.”

After training alone in empty car parks around his hometown, sparring in Auckland, and working with elder welterweight brother Josh and Kiwi super lightweight Cairo George at a Hamilton gym, Nyika will join some of New Zealand’s Commonwealth Games athletes for a two-week training camp in Colorado Springs in January.

Kiwi super heavyweight Patrick Mailata and Nyika then move to Sheffield in England to work for six to eight weeks with boxers among the draft for Great Britain’s World Series of Boxing (WSB) team, who Mailata and Nyika trained and sparred with before competing in WSB events around Europe earlier this year.

Nyika’s next stop will then be Australia to join the New Zealand team ahead of the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and hope for more gold is high.

David Nyika’s boxing career

August 2014: An 18-year-old Nyika wins light heavyweight gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Moves up to heavyweight division the following year.

October 2015: Loses at quarter-final stages of AIBA world championships to Uzbekistan’s Rustam Tulaganov in Doha, Qatar.

March 2016: Suffers a contentious defeat to Tulaganov in Olympic qualifying tournament in Qian’an, China. Nyika’s coach Rik Ellis said they were “ripped off”. Tulaganov then went on to claim bronze at the Rio Games in August.

June 2016: Olympic dream ends after another qualifying defeat to Holland’s Roy Korving in Baku, Azerbaijan. Elder welterweight brother Josh also loses in the tournament that was the last chance to qualify for Rio Olympics.

July 2016: Tells Stuff of plans to stay in amateur ranks and reveals he’s targeting another Commonwealth Games gold medal on the Gold Coast in 2018. Also wins fifth national title in Rotorua.

June 2017: After going almost a year without a competitive fight, Nyika returns to the ring during an action-packed month. Wins fights in France and Kazakhstan for the British Lionhearts franchise in the World Series of boxing before then retaining his Oceania title on the Gold Coast.

August 2017: Has another bitter pill to swallow after controversial loss to Russian Olympic champion Evgeny Tishchenko at the quarter-final stages of the world championships in Hamburg, Germany.

September 2017: Reveals he was training alone in empty car parks after splitting with long-time coach and mentor Ellis before the world championships. Nyika and Ellis later agree that “politics within boxing” had strained their relationship after working together for eight years.

December 2017: Declares first real intentions of fighting at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 providing he receives financial support from High Performance Sport New Zealand.