David Nyika: The New Zealander proving that nice guys can finish first in boxing

David Nyika is proof that nice guys can make it in boxing.

In a sport where fighters are often associated with the intimidation, arrogance, and hubris required to sell a big fight, the Kiwi cruiserweight bucks the trend.

Instead of showing off designer clothes and insulting his opponents over social media, Nyika spends his free time fostering rescue animals and trying to be a positive role model.

So where does his motivation come from, while also trying to administer and absorb punches as an elite boxer?

“The sport is a good avenue for me to express myself,” the 27-year-old New Zealander, told Six and a Song podcast.

“I can’t do confrontation (outside of the ring). I’ve never been in a street fight or at school and I can’t even take back a bad coffee! I don’t have a mean bone in my body but I love the primal art of boxing, and I can’t express myself like that anywhere else.

“I don’t like the perception of being mean, tough, and angry, so I get to exercise that part of being human in the ring.”

“Like anything there’s the yin and yang component. For me, boxing is chaotic and it’s self-absorbing both in and out of the ring with social media,” he continued to Kim Crossman’s Pretty Depressed podcast.

“I find my drive changes from week to week, but the one constant is being the best version of myself for other people and to inspire people for good.

ALSO READ: Five things to know about David Nyika

Dealing with depression during the pandemic

While Nyika is softly spoken outside of the ring, he is ruthless inside it.

The Hamilton native shot to stardom at home when he won light heavyweight gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, before winning the heavyweight division four years later at Gold Coast 2018.

With the Tokyo 2020 Games approaching, everything was heading in the right direction.

But when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and sporting competitions were cancelled or postponed, including the Olympics, the euphoria of Nyika’s excellent qualifying campaign quickly turned into confusion and depression.

“My purpose was taken away from me in some regards and I didn’t understand how I was feeling,” he continued.

“I started to document my feelings regularly on my GoPro (video camera) thinking I would make a YouTube video out of it. But my confidence wasn’t coming and I didn’t post any of it.

“I was mentally in a bad space where I constantly felt like I hadn’t done any exercise for months and was having strange feelings, and it took me a year to understand why.

A new date was set for Tokyo 2020 in 2021, and after eventually going public with his struggles, Nyika decided to speak no more on the topic until after the Games as it felt it was attracting the wrong kind of sympathy and energy.

“I set myself a personal challenge,” he said.

“I was opening the floodgates to negative energy, so I stopped talking publicly about my struggles until I had achieved my goal of going to Olympics.”

An Olympic dream come true

It was a move that paid dividends.

After carrying his nation's flag at the Opening Ceremony alongside rugby player Sarah Hirini, the boxer came through a tough round of 16 test in Tokyo against Youness Baalaa, winning 5-0 despite the Moroccan being accused of biting his ear in a moment reminiscent of Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson.

Another 5-0 victory followed in the quarter-finals against Uladzislau Smiahlikau, before Nyika was defeated 4-1 by 2019 world champion and eventual silver medallist Muslim Gadzhimagomedov in the semis.

It meant that the New Zealander returned home with a well-earned Olympic bronze medal.

“I grew up watching other people’s success on the Olympic stage, and to be in those shoes with everyone at home and looking at you, it’s a bizarre feeling but one that I’ll cherish forever,” he said of the achievement.

David Nyika's 'humbling' training camp with Tyson Fury

In February 2021, Nyika made his professional boxing debut, winning in style by knocking out Jesse Maio in just 29 seconds.

But he knew that improvements would be needed for his next pro bout, and decided to relocate to the UK for six months with fellow New Zealand stars Joseph Parker - who won Youth Olympic silver in 2010 - and Sonny Bill Williams in order to train with British heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that the cruiserweight found equally inspiring and humbling.

“Within 30 seconds of training with Tyson, he picked apart everything I did wrong and made me feel like a novice! Nyika recounted.

“It was humbling but amazing, and everyone should experience this on a regular basis.”

Unsurprisingly, the New Zealander doubled his professional win record in December 2021, needing just one round to beat Anthony Carpin of France.

Since then, Nyika has recorded further victories against Karim Maatalla (in June 2022) and Louis Marsters (in July 2022) - both in Australia where he is now based with trainer Noel Thornberry.

The significance of Joseph, Williams, and Nyika’s invitation to train with Fury should not be understated.

All three New Zealanders are marked out for their humble and relentless work ethic, as well as their ability to deliver stunning knockout punches.

That combination has seen their personal profiles, as well as the sport of boxing overall, swell in popularity over the past few years in their home country.

"Boxing has delivered some of the greatest moments in New Zealand sporting history,” coach Thornberry said. “David Tua blazed a trail for the likes of Joseph Parker, and now David Nyika is the next in line to continue that incredible legacy.”

Another part of that legacy plan was to briefly step away from the professional ranks, and attempt to become the first boxer in history to win three consecutive Commonwealth Games gold medals.

That dream ended when Nikya suffered a hand injury just months out from Birmingham 2022.

But rather than dwell on that missed opportunity, he focussed on rehabilitation and resuming his professional career with a fifth pro bout this October.

“‘Smile and be nice’ is a motto that I live by. It can take you far in life” Nikya said of the mentality that helps him overcome adversity.

“Liam Neeson said that quote about how he lives his life, and sticking to that adage which has taken me to the heights I’m at now.”

With professional boxers allowed to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics, those ‘heights’ are poised to go even higher in the near future.