David Nyika says he’s been training for IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia’s style for a long time, and he’ll be ready to dethrone him this Wednesday, January 8th, at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Broadbeach, Australia.
Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) has a style that Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) knows like the back of his hand, having seen it many times in his amateur days. He’s also sparred with Opetaia and has found the chinks in his armor that he’ll be ready to take advantage of when they square off on Wednesday night.
Training For Opetaia
Opetaia-Nyika will be shown live on DAZN. It’s a fight that will show whether Opetaia is the real thing or just another hype job who built his record on largely lower-level opposition. His only two notable wins came against an old, past-his-best 39-year-old Mairis Briedis, and he did not look good in either of their fights.
The only thing you can say is that Opetaia is fortunate that he caught Briedis at the tail end of his career rather than the beginning or middle stages because it wouldn’t have gone well for him.
The 6’6″ Nyika is a replacement for Huseyin Cinkara, who pulled out with an injury. Luckily, Nyika was available to save the card.
“I’ve been training to fight a guy like Jai for a long time, a world champion,” said David Nyika to Jai McAllister, talking about his fight this Wednesday night against IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia.
“Nothing much has changed. I’m in much better shape than I’ve ever been in. I’ve had two back-to-back camps. I had an eight-week camp for my fight in New Zealand in September. I took off, and I’ve had an 11-week camp for this one.
“I can’t even tell you what David Nyika is going to turn up on the night because this is a new beast. I don’t think about it. I don’t see the use, and I don’t see the help of looking too far ahead,” said Nyika when asked what a win over Opetaia would do for his career.
“Every day, I wake up, and I have a new reason for doing what I’m doing. It’s part of the beauty of my mind. I don’t know what’s around the corner, but I know I have a tough opponent in front of me,” said Nyika.
