GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – David Nyika has warned Jai Opetaia that he will show the same desire Opetaia did to defeat Mairis Briedis when on Wednesday they contest the IBF cruiserweight title.

Australia’s Opetaia makes the third defence of the title he won from Briedis in July 2022, when he resisted a broken jaw to succeed his Latvian opponent as the world’s leading cruiserweight and to transform his career.

Wednesday’s fight, at the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Queensland, represents not only Opetaia’s first fight in his home country since that night, but his return to the venue at which Briedis was dethroned.

Nyika, like Opetaia 29, has watched and admired Opetaia’s considerable progress from afar. He was impressed by what he describes as the “dog” Opetaia required to fight on and win with a broken jaw, and cited his willingness to cancel a holiday in Cancun, Mexico scheduled for Thursday to instead recover from Wednesday’s fight in hospital as a reflection of his desire to prove himself in the same way.

The Olympic bronze medallist, the first boxing medallist from New Zealand since the popular heavyweight David Tua, has already postponed that same trip, with his partner Alexis Thornberry – the daughter of his trainer, manager and promoter Noel – three times to instead prioritise fights. The outcome of Wednesday’s may yet leave him with little choice but to postpone it again, but it is the price he is willing to pay to “go deep”.

“I know Jai’s got dog in him,” Nyika told BoxingScene. “I know Jai wants to win. I want to win just as bad. I don’t see any fear in his eyes. I know we’re going to have an instant classic. 

“It’s the size of the dog inside – I know he’s got plenty of dog. I’ve got plenty of dog. It doesn’t matter [that I have a size advantage]. It really doesn’t matter, physical size, because we’re coming in at the same weight anyway.

“Massively impressed [with Opetaia’s victory over Briedis]. Massively impressed. Me and my partner have booked a flight to Mexico the next day – I’m prepared to completely call that trip off. I’m ready to go deep. I’m preparing to spend the next night in hospital, if I have to.”

Nyika was then asked if Opetaia is both the world’s finest cruiserweight and the finest since Oleksandr Usyk moved up to heavyweight in 2018, and he responded: “Yes, definitely. That’s the reason why we take this fight. Yes – 100 per cent. 

“The cruiserweight division’s definitely getting more exciting. You’ve got the likes of [Gilberto] ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez, made light work of Chris Billam-Smith. Jai Opetaia – he wants to go on to unify and to become undisputed. I’ve the opportunity to come slide in and take that from him. We put on a big show, they’re going to want a rematch. If I come out victorious, they’re going to want a rematch. That adds a whole new dynamic to the division. 

“We’re the best fighters. It makes just as much sense to bring [Oleksandr] Usyk back down to cruiserweight. Artur Beterbiev can come up to cruiserweight as well. I truly believe that the cruiserweight division is the most athletic and the most devastating division, because you’ve got the athletes with the most power. There’s not a cruiserweight out there that can’t knock everybody out, but on top of that – I run an hour 22 [minute] half-marathon. We’re animals. We still have to make weight. This is not an easy sport, and not an easy division to be in.”

Nyika confirmed that part of his willingness to replace Huseyin Cinkara as Opetaia’s challenger at relatively late notice, when Cinkara was injured in December, owed to the expectation that Opetaia is destined for the heavyweight division and that a fight between them at cruiserweight would pass him by.

He, similarly, represents the underdog because he is the opponent for the occasion of an increasingly celebrated champion’s homecoming fight, and because that champion is Australian and he is from New Zealand, and therefore in so many respects he is the upstart in an extension of a rivalry that is so significant in their part of the world.

“I love it,” he said. “I love it. That’s always motivated me. I’ve always been the underdog. My brother [Josh is] standing next to me right now – he’s always been my benchmark. I’ve always wanted to eat more than him; run faster than him; fight better than him. I’ve always needed someone to chase. He was always fitter than me; always faster than me; always stronger than me. It’s a mentality. This doesn’t happen overnight. I was born with this mentality, and I’ll keep chasing bigger dogs.

“It’s a little brother-big brother. Australia’s always been the big brother to New Zealand. We come over here; we punch above our weight. Jai’s done the hard work. He’s brought the belt back to this corner of the world; I’m going to take it back to our little island. Jai’s done all the hard work. He’s blown all these guys out of the water. He’s the man to beat now. I get to come and cut off his lifeline.”

He repeated: “I’m half-expecting to spend the night in hospital.”