David Nyika to take another step up as next opponent confirmed

By Christopher Reive

After announcing a new multi-fight promotional deal, David Nyika was clear he wanted a test when the first of those bouts came around in September.

With that fight to be held in Auckland, both Nyika and coach Noel Thornberry were realistic about the fact they might not be able to lure a ranked cruiserweight counterpart down, but were confident in the level of opponent they would find.

In Australian Blake Caparello, they have all their hopes met.

Nyika will square off against the former light heavyweight world title challenger to begin the new deal being billed as Nyika’s road to the title, with the 28-year-old to meet against a battle-tested foe.

Caparello holds a 32-4 record with one draw and 15 wins by knockout. In 2013, he won the vacant IBO world light heavyweight title and in 2014, he challenged Sergey Kovalev for the WBO world title, knocking the champion down in round one before going on to lose in the second.

The 37-year-old has remained active. Although he has fought at light heavyweight for most of his career, he earned his spot at No 15 in the WBC cruiserweight rankings after moving up and claiming a fifth-round knockout win over Italian Simone Federici in February. Though Caparello has since dropped out of the WBC rankings, he remains at No 13 with the WBA.

Caparello has had plenty of success against Kiwi fighters throughout his career, with wins over Robert Berridge, Daniel MacKinnon, Reece Papuni, Lance Bryant and Jordan Tai

While impressed with his opponent’s credentials, Nyika said he wasn’t fazed by the challenge.

“No disrespect to any of those Kiwi boys who took on Caparello and got beaten. They are all great fighters in their own right — but none of them are me,” Nyika said.

“To me, Blake Caparello is just another step on the road to a world title. He’s standing in my way, but not for long.”

After a fourth-round knockout win over previously unbeaten German Michael Seitz in his most recent appearance, Nyika earned his spot in the IBF rankings at No 14, and would be looking to continue his climb against Caparello.

This bout is Nyika’s first time headlining a major boxing pay-per-view card, and the first of four headline fights annually for the Olympics bronze and two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist.

On the undercard, Ricaia Warren will fight Dylan Wright, Alex Leapai jnr will square off against Kenny Niko, while Uila Mau’u will compete against an opponent yet to be announced, with more fights still to be added.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission