{"id":758824,"date":"2026-06-25T06:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T06:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/758824\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T06:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T06:51:11","slug":"kiwi-boxer-nyika-inspired-by-fiancees-successful-cancer-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/758824\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiwi boxer Nyika inspired by fianc\u00e9e’s successful cancer fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kiwi boxer David Nyika has spoken about how his fianc\u00e9e Lexy Thornberry\u2019s successful fight against cancer has inspired him to reach new heights in and out of the ring.<\/p>\n

Lexy, the daughter of Nyika\u2019s long-time trainer Noel Thornberry, recently announced that intensive chemotherapy and radiation treatment has helped her beat head and neck cancer. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a pretty turbulent eight months having survived a pretty intensive cancer treatment,\u201d Nyika said in the Breakfast studio this morning. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot to take from a pretty tough chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nyika will take on Australian Floyd Masson in an IBF cruiserweight world title elimination fight in Auckland on August 8. The event will be screened live and exclusively on TVNZ+.<\/a><\/p>\n

Nyika, 30, fought for the same title last year but was knocked out by rival Jai Opetaia<\/a> in Australia after only a few weeks\u2019 preparation.<\/p>\n

The title is now vacant and Nyika is determined to make the most of his new opportunity fuelled by 25-year-old Lexy\u2019s example.<\/p>\n

David Nyika tells Breakfast that partner Lexy Thornberry has shown him what the human mind and body is capable of. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n

\u201cHer bravery and her resilience is what is driving me now because you see what the human body and mind is capable of. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing her rock and advocate for six months\u2026 I know what I\u2019m capable of as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s helped with my perspective. Life is good but it\u2019s up to us to make it good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nyika, who will continue preparing for the bout at his Queensland home, added: \u201cTraining has been great. I\u2019m getting into the heavier sparring now so we\u2019re about six and a half weeks out and I\u2019m in a much better place than when I fought for the world title last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a battled-hardened veteran,\u201d he said of his opponent. \u201cHe\u2019s proven his mettle but I don\u2019t think he\u2019s ever been in the ring with a guy with my boxing ability.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a great fight and the New Zealand fans and viewers deserve it. Big-time boxing is back and the undercard is spectacular.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

David Nyika’s fianc\u00e9e Lexy Thornberry greets him before Nyika’s fight against Tommy Karpency in Auckland in 2024 – the last time he fought in New Zealand. (Source: Photosport)<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got the likes of Hemi Ahio and Kiki Leutele fighting \u2013 that\u2019s like the two biggest scariest guys in New Zealand boxing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also on the undercard is former All Black Rene Ranger,<\/a> who is fighting former Warriors player Manu Vatuvei, plus another former All Black in Liam Messam. <\/p>\n

And Nyika revealed it was Messam who was in the inspiration behind Nyika\u2019s \u201cNice Guy\u201d nickname.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople probably don\u2019t know this but he\u2019s where I got the \u201cNice Guy\u201d from. I remember him coming into my changing room after a fight and he didn\u2019t have any credentials or anything [to get past security]. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe said \u2018honestly, you\u2019d be surprised by how far you can get in life by smiling and being nice\u2019. I\u2019ve worn that on my sleeve literally since. That\u2019s how I live my life now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The morning headlines including an unwelcome passenger hitches a ride on a prison van\u2026 a plan to rescue crew stranded in the strait of Hormuz.. and a baby goat named after the football goat Lionel Messi. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kiwi boxer David Nyika has spoken about how his fianc\u00e9e Lexy Thornberry\u2019s successful fight against cancer has inspired…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":758825,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,85],"class_list":["post-758824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758824","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=758824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/758824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/758825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=758824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=758824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=758824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}