{"id":851511,"date":"2026-08-09T06:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T06:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/851511\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T06:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T06:42:10","slug":"boxing-david-nyika-hopeful-of-auckland-world-title-bout-after-beating-floyd-masson-in-eliminator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/851511\/","title":{"rendered":"Boxing: David Nyika hopeful of Auckland world title bout after beating Floyd Masson in eliminator"},"content":{"rendered":"

After beating fellow Waikato-born, Australian-based boxer Floyd Masson by unanimous decision in a gripping contest in Auckland<\/a> on Saturday night, Nyika earned the right to fight undefeated Brit Viddal Riley for the now-vacant IBF strap.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, leading up to this fight, that was the prep that I should have had to fight Jai,\u201d Nyika said.<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Nyika (right) beat Floyd Masson by unanimous decision on Saturday night. Photo \/ Brad Roberts<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd as much as Jai\u2019s a completely different animal, that was a great fight and I prepared diligently. I didn\u2019t cut any corners<\/a> and activity in boxing is critical and crucial. So going into December, I think that was best-case scenario, getting 12 hard-fought rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

While a December date isn\u2019t set for the world title fight against Riley, it is the ideal timeline for Nyika as he looks to stay active. It\u2019s a timeframe that likely works for Riley, too, as the Brit last fought in April.<\/p>\n

As for where that title fight will be held, Nyika and his team were hopeful of securing another Auckland fight night, with the belt on the line in the main event.<\/p>\n

That discussion is expected to play out over the next week, with Duco Events promoter David Higgins expecting the two sides to haggle over a location and purse split for the bout, with the hope of avoiding the IBF having to ask for purse bids.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s going nowhere, then either party can ask [the] IBF for a purse bid, which is like a tender on a house where you put the price or a number on it, goes in the envelope, whoever wins gets all the worldwide rights to everything and the winning bid is split between the two challengers,\u201d Higgins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, the idea for Team Nyika is to try and negotiate it in New Zealand without going to [a] purse bid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Nyika (shirtless, rear centre] with family, friends and supporters after he beat Floyd Masson by unanimous decision. Photo \/ Brad Roberts<\/p>\n

Higgins identified Saturday, December 12 as a preferred date should that bout be brought to Kiwi shores, which would be just over a decade after fellow Kiwi Joseph Parker beat Mexican-American Andy Ruiz jnr for the WBO world heavyweight title in Auckland on December 10, 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean if David could end up fighting 10 years to the day just about when Joseph won, that would be cool,\u201d Higgins said.<\/p>\n

It was a back-and-forth encounter as both fighters had plenty of success in the early rounds. However, Nyika found his rhythm in the middle rounds and finished the stronger of the two \u2013 with a point being deducted from Masson due to his mouthguard coming out about four times, giving Nyika a touch of breathing space on the cards.<\/p>\n

He ended up winning 115-112 on two scorecards \u2013 or seven rounds to five \u2013 with the other judge scoring it 116-111.<\/p>\n

With the discussions around his impending date with Riley expected to play out in the coming weeks, Nyika was looking forward to taking some time to celebrate his win over Masson and appreciate some time off with those in his circle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I was going to need a few weeks off. My elbows are a bit sore, there\u2019s nothing wrong with my hands, which is awesome,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll just reevaluate. We\u2019ll go back to the drawing board, but we implemented a great game plan today and we were patient. I trusted in my preparation, I trusted in my team and they did an amazing job. I can\u2019t thank Duco enough, can\u2019t thank the sponsors enough for being here. The crowd was amazing, and Floyd, it\u2019s just a really, really cool night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier in the night, Waikato-trained, Papua New Guinea-born boxer Sheilla Yama continued her march towards a world title shot, outpointing Australian Jessica Messina in an all-action affair.<\/p>\n

\"SheillaSheilla Yama speaks with Ravinder Hunia after beating Jessica Messina by unanimous decision. Photo \/ Brad Roberts<\/p>\n

Yama was putting her IBF international super lightweight title on the line in the bout and Messina took the fight to her from the outset.<\/p>\n

Applying an \u201call gas, no brakes\u201d approach, Messina consistently walked forward and threw her punches in bunches while Yama was forced to fight on the counter.<\/p>\n

It took her a few rounds, but once Yama figured out her timing, she took over to win a convincing decision.<\/p>\n

Full card results <\/p>\n

David Nyika beat Floyd Masson via unanimous decision (116-111, 115-112 x2)<\/p>\n

Sheilla Yama beat Jessica Messina via unanimous decision (97-93 x2, 98-92)<\/p>\n

Hemi Ahio beat Joe Ageli via third-round TKO<\/p>\n

Manu Vatuvei beat Rene Ranger via first-round TKO<\/p>\n

Alex Leapai jnr beat Arsene Fosso via TKO (injury retirement between third and fourth round)<\/p>\n

Kyle Merewether beat John Parker via split decision<\/p>\n

Cassidy Thornberry beat Ross Malthus via unanimous decision<\/p>\n

Liam Messam beat Luke Siaki via third-round TKO<\/p>\n

Victor Baice beat Ijah Allen by first-round TKO<\/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":"After beating fellow Waikato-born, Australian-based boxer Floyd Masson by unanimous decision in a gripping contest in Auckland on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[8349,296111,2905,296110,1854,703,49,48,296113,13645,236879,7792,24158,236880,2000,296112,24159,24161,236878,2177,2732,82,11376,2534,3275],"class_list":["post-851511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-after","tag-arrived","tag-auckland","tag-beating","tag-bout","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-circumstances","tag-david","tag-eliminator","tag-first","tag-floyd","tag-hopeful","tag-in","tag-lessthanideal","tag-masson","tag-nyika","tag-nyikas","tag-of","tag-shot","tag-sports","tag-title","tag-under","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851511","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=851511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}