David Nyika goes up against Jai Opetaia at GCCEC on the Gold Coast, Australia on January 8. The New Zealand contender challenges the representative of the host country for his IBF cruiserweight title.
In his previous fight last September in Auckland, Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) faced Tommy Karpency. The pair squared off in the scheduled for 10-rounds bout that didn’t go the full distance. The unbeaten 29-year-old took a dominant win against his opponent from Adah, Pennsylvania by way of stoppage.
On his way to victory, Nyika dropped Karpency twice, delivering a left hand to the body and a right counter hook. To save their fighter from further punishment, the latter’s corner threw in the towel. The official time was 1:13 into the third round. Going into the the round, Nyika was leading with scores of 20-18 across the board.
Taking on Jai Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs), David Nyika makes his first attempt to become champion. The native of Hamilton, New Zealand took the fight on short notice, replacing mandatory challenger Huseyin Cinkara, who withdrew due to injury.