Nyika wary of 'wolves at the door'

New Zealand boxing's amateur star David Nyika knows the pro ranks are calling, but he admits to being nervous about effectively becoming a business.

Like many spokespeople, Nyika's career is in somewhat of a holding pattern with Covid-19 providing a roadblock.

Nyika achieved a life-long dream in March when he qualified for the Olympic Games, initially scheduled for this year in Tokyo.

The 24-year-old, who has won two Commonwealth Games gold medals, confirmed the blueprint was to put in a good showing at the Olympics before potentially turning pro.

That remains the goal, but the plan has been delayed after the Olympics was pushed back 12 months because of Covid-19.

“I’m alive but I’m not making a living at the moment. There will come a time where I need to provide for a family and I’ll need to stake my claim in professional boxing, it has been in the back of my mind,’’ Nyika told The Boxing Files podcast.

Nyika admitted the prospect of linking with the bright lights of professional boxing was a touch daunting.

Nyika said his support team at High Performance Sport New Zealand had helped him get to where he was today and he would find it tough to walk away from its strength and conditioning, physios, etc.

The Hamilton boxer has also coached himself for the past three and a half years and has ultimately been in charge of his own development.

Letting others into his small and tight-knit team was something Nyika was weary of.

"I think with a good performance at the Olympics the natural progression is to take the best offer from a promotional company, I guess.

"[However] finding a new team as a professional is pretty daunting to be honest. It's going to turn into a business so I am very aware that the wolves will be at the door and I need to be ready for it.

"I've always got my skeptical eyes on. I feel like I've had trust issues with people extending their arm and saying, ‘come this way’.

“….If someone extends a hand, I kind of want to know what they want in return.’’

For the moment the Olympics remains the key focus for Nyika, despite the uncertainty.

"It might not even go-ahead next year, I have no idea at this stage, the world's still struggling.

“[New Zealand] are kind of coming out the other end of the tunnel, so I was ready to compete this year and see where things led to, but everything is up in the air.’’

Nyika was prepared to wait it out for another year before turning pro, given the magnitude of taking part in an event like the Olympics.

At 24 Nyika also felt he still had a lot of developing to do and time on his side.

“It is pretty ridiculous but I still have a lot of growing to do over the next few years, so it will be an interesting transition into professional life.’’

At what weight division Nyika attempts to make his mark as a professional also remains an interesting point.

Nyika won gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the 81kg division, before winning gold in the 91kg division at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The 91kg division, or cruiserweight as it’s called in the pro ranks, was also where he planned to have a crack at an Olympic medal.

Nyika wasn’t ruling up the prospect of fighting as a heavyweight in the professional ranks in the future.

He said his father was a late bloomer in terms of ''developing his man strength’’ when he went from 70kg to 90kg in his late 20s.

“If I followed the same footsteps, as a cruiserweight now, I could easily move up to 110kg in the years to come, that’s quite an exciting journey to think about. But at the moment, I've obviously got a lot on my plate.

“I think initially I’ll be a cruiserweight, I walking around comfortably at 91kg limited, every now and then I drop down to 89kg or go up.’’