{"id":319840,"date":"2025-12-01T04:05:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T04:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/319840\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T04:05:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T04:05:09","slug":"kiwi-boxer-david-nyika-on-fiancee-lexy-thornberrys-cancer-fight-ahead-of-return-to-ring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/319840\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiwi boxer David Nyika on fianc\u00e9e Lexy Thornberry\u2019s cancer fight ahead of return to ring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cBut Lex is a monster. She\u2019s doing so well. She\u2019s become an inspiration for me. To keep fighting and to keep pushing forward has been easy watching her go through what she\u2019s going through and I\u2019m very, very appreciative of the opportunity to be able to ride alongside somebody that\u2019s going through something like this.\u201d <\/p>\n

The pair made Thornberry\u2019s diagnosis public late last week, about three weeks after the former Love Island Australia contestant received it. A crowdfunding page<\/a> has been set up to help lighten the load on the young couple. <\/p>\n

Posting on Instagram, Thornberry said she was set to begin treatment and that she made Nyika promise to continue with his career and not let the diagnosis take over their lives. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe in coincidence, and I think that everything\u2019s happened for the right reason, but now we\u2019ve got to dig our heels in,\u201d Nyika said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fight in January, like, that was a warm-up, man. We\u2019re really, really going through the thick of it now and we still have kids to come, you know? We\u2019re still getting married next year, you know? Like nothing changes.\u201d <\/p>\n

Nyika (11-1) will return to the ring next week in Gatton<\/a> against China\u2019s Wuzhati Nuerlang (17-4) as he looks to work his way back into world title contention. <\/p>\n

The Kiwi, who fights under the moniker of \u201cThe Nice Guy\u201d, is currently ranked inside the top 10 in the cruiserweight division with both the IBF (7) and WBO (8) as he looks to continue to work his way back into title contention. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel really well-equipped for this. So, it means everything for her to support me through this. I don\u2019t necessarily want to fight. I\u2019m a lover, not a fighter. I love life, but if I wasn\u2019t fighting, I wouldn\u2019t know as much about it, you know? <\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Nyika celebrates a win with fianc\u00e9e Lexy Thornberry (second from left) and loved ones. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cSo for her to be supporting me through with my own kind of selfish endeavours is only going to make us stronger and make us a unique and well-equipped force moving forward. I know we\u2019ve got an amazing life to live together and it\u2019s important that we do the right things and that we get Lex the care she needs, so I\u2019ll do whatever it takes to get her there.\u201d <\/p>\n

Speaking about how Thornberry\u2019s diagnosis has changed his approach to training camp, Nyika said he had different priorities now and was doing everything he could to be at his partner\u2019s side for \u201cevery appointment, every procedure, [and] every scan\u201d. <\/p>\n

Nyika had already been in training towards the potential of a spot on the undercard of Joseph Parker\u2019s bout against Fabio Wardley in late October. While that didn\u2019t eventuate, it meant he came into this one already in fighting shape and just had to maintain that level. <\/p>\n

\u201cFirst things first, I need my partner to be healthy and I need to be able to protect and provide for her. We\u2019ve got a great team of doctors around us as well, as you know, a supportive family network and friends. The response we\u2019ve had from our people has been amazing,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut yeah, everything has changed. From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep, Lexy\u2019s on my mind, you know? Like, I need to be doing everything that I can to make her journey through this chapter as comfortable as I can, and that\u2019s taken top priority.\u201d <\/p>\n

Christopher Reive<\/a> joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBut Lex is a monster. She\u2019s doing so well. She\u2019s become an inspiration for me. To keep fighting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[22666,64,63,16485,802,1617,13478,180305,1913,8835,180306,27857,1787,2652,9664,2975,85,180307,319,35549,1547],"class_list":["post-319840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-ahead","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxer","tag-boxing","tag-cancer","tag-david","tag-fiance","tag-fight","tag-kiwi","tag-lexy","tag-nyika","tag-of","tag-on","tag-return","tag-ring","tag-sports","tag-thornberrys","tag-to","tag-wild","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=319840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}