\u201cIt\u2019s been extremely difficult mentally, physically, emotionally. I\u2019ve put my heart and soul into being the right person for Lex during this time but I\u2019m really excited to get back to doing what I love and showcasing what I do,\u201d Nyika told the Herald. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the start of a new chapter for me and Lex. We\u2019re looking forward to getting married and starting a family together and this is just the first big leap. It feels great.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a weight lifted, Nyika initially planned to ease his way back to boxing with a low-key return on May 30 in Gatton. <\/p>\n
A call from the International Boxing Federation<\/a>, ordering a cruiserweight world title eliminator against fellow Australian-based Kiwi Floyd Masson, drastically altered that vision.<\/p>\n Ideally, Nyika would shake off ring rust with tune-up fights but with an extended runway to prepare for his world title eliminator, which will propel the winner to challenge Britain\u2019s Viddal Riley for the IBF title later this year, he remains confident of charting his path to championship status.<\/p>\n \u201cImmediately it was a little bit daunting because I hadn\u2019t punched anything since I busted my hand on that Chinese man\u2019s head so it was five months stale but when they said July-August it was a sigh of relief,\u201d Nyika said. <\/p>\n \u201cIf I have three-and-a-half months. That\u2019s the perfect time to wind up. I\u2019m starting slow but my slow is pretty vigorous. I\u2019ll pace myself over the next few months.\u201d<\/p>\n Squaring off against Te Awamutu-raised southpaw Masson will be something of a full-circle moment for Nyika. The pugilists know each other well, with Masson attending teenage house parties at the Nyika home as a friend of his sister, Ruby. <\/p>\n \u201cEven then we\u2019d be talking shop about the weight he was trying to make to avoid fighting his teammates. He\u2019s always been a consummate professional. I have nothing but admiration for him. That\u2019s what\u2019s going to drive me through this camp \u2013 wondering what Floyd\u2019s doing. He\u2019s a diesel engine. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s one of the good guys of the sport. Everything he\u2019s achieved in boxing he\u2019s done through hard work and discipline because he\u2019s not a talented fighter. <\/p>\n \u201cFloyd doesn\u2019t do anything that scares me. He attacks the body well but I\u2019m taller, I\u2019ve got great footwork; I can punch at range and fight on the inside. I don\u2019t expect to get everything my way. He\u2019s battle hardened but I believe he\u2019ll bring the best out of me. I\u2019m expecting a hard, gruelling fight. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great fight for a world title eliminator. It\u2019s a big step in the right direction for us both. If either of us were to turn our nose up to it, that would be the dishonour.\u201d<\/p>\n The chance to contest a cruiserweight world title emerged from the IBF stripping Samoan Australian Jai Opetaia, widely considered the king of the division, after he signed with Dana White\u2019s breakaway Zuffa boxing last month.<\/p>\n Nyika suffered his sole knockout defeat to Opetaia in January 2025, after accepting the world title fight on short notice. <\/p>\n Eighteen months later he stands one victory, one decisive punch, away from a second chance to challenge for the IBF crown. <\/p>\n \u201cWith all the Zuffa stuff the cruiserweight division is getting so exciting by freeing up the IBF title for guys in the wings to contest.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone wanted to fight Jai. When I took the fight against him they had gone down the entire rankings list from one to 10. I was ranked 10 at the time and was the only one willing to fight. <\/p>\n \u201cJai moving to Zuffa and taking the money on offer there has opened up the division. We should be scrambling for these titles. Once I get the IBF belt, I\u2019ll start looking at the WBO. <\/p>\n \u201cI believe I beat Floyd Masson and I believe I beat Viddal Riley. They\u2019re both great opponents. They don\u2019t necessarily do any one thing really well but they\u2019re well-rounded, tough, strong, fit.\u201d<\/p>\n The Nyika and Masson camps have until the end of April to negotiate terms and agree a venue to stage the world title eliminator or the IBF will order a purse bid. <\/p>\n Masson\u2019s promoters are keen to stage the fight in Australia but David Higgins, Nyika\u2019s manager, is attempting to engage a series of backers to bring the bout to New Zealand. <\/p>\n \u201cI think we should do it in Hamilton,\u201d Nyika said, hopefully. \u201cFloyd is from Te Awamutu, I\u2019m from Hamilton. The Claudelands Events Centre is 400m down the road from the house I grew up in. I know both of our people will come out in numbers. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d love to do it in New Zealand. Hamilton would be super special. I\u2019d love to fight in front of my old school buddies. It would be a big reunion for the Hamilton mob.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a big fight for boxing and New Zealand. I\u2019d love for the community to get behind it. This is the peak of the sport, and it just happens that two of the top contenders are Kiwis abroad. <\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s bring it home, get our army together and make a big party out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n What a way to mark a new chapter that would be. <\/p>\n Liam Napier<\/a> is a Senior Sports Journalist and Rugby Correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. He is a co-host of the Rugby Direct podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s been extremely difficult mentally, physically, emotionally. I\u2019ve put my heart and soul into being the right person…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[8349,27965,703,49,48,7714,68971,11595,32559,13645,236879,155309,236877,1138,3011,236880,236881,24161,236878,13019,695,1135,2732,23218,82,8726,236882,11376,3275],"class_list":{"0":"post-633231","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-battle","10":"tag-boxing","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-cancer","14":"tag-chapter","15":"tag-contender","16":"tag-cruiserweight","17":"tag-david","18":"tag-eliminator","19":"tag-fiancee","20":"tag-fiancees","21":"tag-fight","22":"tag-from","23":"tag-hopeful","24":"tag-lexy","25":"tag-nyika","26":"tag-nyikas","27":"tag-one","28":"tag-return","29":"tag-ring","30":"tag-shot","31":"tag-signals","32":"tag-sports","33":"tag-start","34":"tag-thornberry","35":"tag-title","36":"tag-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}