David Nyika

Event: Boxing - Men 81kg

David Nyika, an Olympic bronze medallist and twice Commonwealth Games champion, is one of the finest boxers to have represented New Zealand.

Nyika, born in Hamilton in 1995, had an unusual background. His father’s family escaped Uganda during the dictatorship of Idi Amin, a man known as the Butcher of Uganda. They made a new life New Zealand, initially in Oamaru.

When he was young David harboured hopes of becoming a long-distance running champion, but a growth spurt – he ended up 1.95m or 6ft 4in – persuaded hm to look further afield for a sport to focus on.

Soon he settled on boxing and with his natural timing, fast hands and feet, defensive skills and flair, he built up a superb record in the amateur ranks. No New Zealand boxers could match him.

He was only 18 when he was sent to the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and won the gold medal in the 81kg division. He won five successive bouts with unanimous decisions, beating Luvuyo Sizani (South Africa),  Scott Forrest (Scotland), Sumit Sangwan (India), Sean McGlinchy (Northern Ireland) and, in the final, Kennedy St-Pierre (Mauritius).

As he dismantled strong, hopeful boxers fight after fight, New Zealanders realised what a gem they’d unearthed. The teenager was immensely proud to be part of the New Zealand team – he loved it when his team-mates did the haka in his honour and he broke down in tears when he heard the national anthem during the medal ceremony.

Nyika lost two crucial qualifying bouts overseas before the 2016 Olympics and missed selection, but returned to the Commonwealth Games arena with a vengeance on the Gold Coast in 2018.

Four years later and 10kg heavier than at his first Commonwealth Games, Nyika won the heavyweight (91kg) division, and again was untroubled, winning all his bout by unanimous decision. He beat Yakita Aska (Antigua and Barbuda), had a walkover, then beat Englishman Cheavon Clarke and, in the final, Australian Jason Whateley. The New Zealander was a class apart from his opposition.

He set his sights on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but when they were postponed a year, he turned professional. He opened his pro career with a 29-second knockout victory over fellow New Zealander Jesse Maio in Auckland on the undercard to a Joseph Parker fight. Parker became Nyika’s friend and mentor.

At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Nyika won his first bout with a unanimous points decision over Moroccan Youness Baalla. The bout was shrouded in controversy, not because of anything Nyika did. In what was described by commentators as a ‘disgraceful act’, during the third round, Baalla attempted to bite Nyika. The incident drew comparisons to the Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield fight in 1997 when Tyson repeatedly bit Holyfield's ear.

Unfazed, Nyika outclassed Belarusian Uladzislau Smiahlikau to earn a semi-final against Russian Muslim Gadzhimagomedov, the 2019 world champion. The Russian had beaten Nyika by unanimous decision on his way to that world title. In Tokyo they had a much closer fight, though the Russian just shaded the New Zealander. The judges gave it to Gadzhimagomedov 4-1.

So Nyika won a bronze medal. In Olympic boxing, once a boxer has lost he cannot fight again at the tournament, so the losing semi-finalists are both awarded bronze. Nyika’s was New Zealand’s first Olympic boxing medal since David Tua won bronze, also in the heavyweight division, in Barcelona in 1992.

Nyika, who has settled in Gatton, Queensland, was preparing to go for a Commonwealth Games treble, but had to withdraw from the New Zealand team For Birmingham in 2022 when he injured a hand. He elected to bypass the 2024 Paris Olympics to focus on the professional ranks.

Nyika progressed well as a pro and by the end of 2023 had won all eight of his fights in the cruiserweight division, mainly in Australia, and with one in England. Only one of the eight fights lasted the distance. In 2022, Australian Noel Thornberry became Nyika’s trainer, his first regular coach since he left Ringside Gym in Hamilton in 2017.

Nyika is a former ambassador for SPCA, and spent more than three years fostering puppies and kittens. His older brother Josh also represented New Zealand at boxing.