“I love it. You should be taking the fight. It’s definitely too early for him. But just because it’s too early doesn’t mean he can’t win. Belief is a huge part of it but you’ve got to truly believe.
“Sometimes you can get a fighter who doesn’t have the attributes to win. They just say they’re going to win. Nyika is good. He’s well-schooled. He can punch. And he’s fast. But he’s got a mountain to climb. It’s going to be a brilliant fight.
“David has a great chance because he is good enough. It’s just whether he’s ready. I believe David Nyika will be world champion. Will he be world champion on Wednesday? That’s the million-dollar question.
“It’s a huge step up. You’re fighting the best cruiserweight in the world. You’re never going to fight a better guy in the division than Jai.”
Despite the short notice, Nyika had no hesitation accepting the chance to challenge Opetaia, believing destiny may only call once. That confidence extends throughout Nyika’s team to experienced trainer Noel Thornberry who dismissed Hearn’s concerns.
“If we didn’t believe David was capable we wouldn’t be doing it,” Thornberry said. “I agree that David is going to be cruiserweight world champion but it’s going to be sooner than Eddie thinks. I don’t think Eddie thinks we’re going to do it but we are.”
The risk and reward is real for both fighters. A loss in his first home fight for two-and-a-half years would be a major setback for Opetaia and, indeed, an upset that would stun the boxing world.
Nyika has less to lose and everything to gain but while Hearn pays tribute to his courage, he notes other contenders have held similar confidence before confronting Opetaia’s relentless southpaw power.
“The worst thing you can do is go in and get destroyed,” Hearn said. “If you do that it’s really not good. If you go in, put in a brilliant performance and lose, your stock goes through the roof and you go back and you come again.
“I get a lot of criticism for taking risks with fighters. That’s the game. You can’t be afraid to lose. Nyika needs a lot of credit for that because he’s in deep on Wednesday night. He might unfold and get beat real quick. Or he might put together a performance that a lot of people feel he’s capable of. He’s one of the greatest six-to-one underdogs I’ve ever seen.
“The amount of people that have said to me this week ‘I’m not sure he can win but he isn’t six-to-one’.”
Pressed for a prediction, Hearn compares Nyika to British cruiserweight Jordan Thompson who arrived with a 15-0 record and lasted four rounds with Opetaia in September 2023.
“The key for Nyika is getting through those early rounds and getting into the fight. Jordan was the same as David in terms of being very athletic; he was knocking people out and then he got in with Jai and got run through. So those early rounds, if David can take the power, if he can mix it, it’s going to be a war.
“Nyika isn’t some geezer who has come out of the rankings. He’s got a great amateur pedigree but normally you’d want someone to have three 10-rounders, a couple of 12-rounders before you take this kind of risk. I love this kind of risk. I hope whatever way it goes people give him the respect for stepping up and taking it because a lot of those people wouldn’t have the balls to do it.”
Hearn offers a more favourable prediction for Kiwi heavyweight Joseph Parker and his looming IBF world title showdown with Daniel Dubois in Saudi Arabia next month.
Dubois stunned fellow Brit, and Hearn’s long-time trump card, Anthony Joshua, by dropping him four times in a five-round demolition at Wembley in September to claim the vacant IBF title.
“I think Joe Parker wins. I really do. I’m a big Joe Parker fan. He’s a mate of mine. I’m kind of his unofficial promoter.
“Everyone is talking about Zurdo Ramirez, Oleksandr Usyk. For Dubois everyone is talking about Usyk or the AJ rematch. Joe does all the things you need to be able to do to beat Dubois which is take him deep, work-rate, have a good chin, keep landing, keep chipping away.
“Dubois used to have a threshold where he was asked questions and it used to come after three or four rounds. Now because of his confidence that might come after seven, eight, nine rounds. You’ve got to take him there and then you’ve got to make Dubois question his heart. Joe is the kind of fighter to do that so I think he wins.”
Liam Napier has been a sports journalist since 2010, and his work has taken him to World Cups in rugby, netball and cricket, boxing world title fights and Commonwealth Games.
