David Nyika cruised to victory on his Olympic debut after overcoming an attempted bite from Moroccan fighter Youness Baalla in the men’s heavyweight round of 16 in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Nyika is one win away from New Zealand’s first Olympic boxing medal since David Tua’s bronze in 1992 after beating Baalla via unanimous decision, but the fight was overshadowed by the Moroccan’s conduct in the final round.
The Hamilton heavyweight was composed and comfortable in defeating the top-ranked African fighter, who lost his cool after failing to counter the Kiwi’s consistently accurate jab.
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Baalla was being warned persistently by Sri Lankan referee Nelka Shiromala Thampi for grabbing Nyika.
In one hold, the Moroccan appeared to lean towards biting Nyika’s ear. But he pulled out as Nyika swung his head.
“He didn’t get a full mouthful. Luckily he had his mouthguard in, and I was a bit sweaty, but come on man, this is the Olympics, get your s… together,” Nyika told One News.
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Nyika said he felt like he was definitely bitten on the cheekbone, but he was laughing about the incident afterwards, said his coach, Billy Meehan.
“The fella woke him up with a little bite at the end there,” Meehan told Sky Sport.
Three years ago, in the opening fight of his successful Commonwealth Games campaign on the Gold Coast, Nyika was bitten by his opponent, Antigua and Barbuda’s Yakita Aska.
Meehan said he couldn’t believe Baalla would go for a bite at the Olympics.
“Not at this level. You don’t expect to see that. You don’t expect to get that and David handled it brilliantly.”
Nyika advances to the quarterfinals of the 81-91kg division in Tokyo after his impressive opening win, with all five judges awarding it 30-27 in his favour, and he will fight Uladzislau Smiahlikau of Belarus in the last eight on Friday.
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The losing semifinalists at the Tokyo Games are each awarded a bronze medal.
If Nyika beats Smiahlikau, he is guaranteed at least bronze and would become New Zealand’s fourth Olympic boxing medallist after Tua, Kevin Barry (silver in 1984) and Ted Morgan (gold in 1928), adding to his two Commonwealth Games gold medals in 2014 and 2018.
Meehan said Nyika’s quarterfinal opponent will be an improvement from Baalla. Smiahlikau beat Samoa’s Ato Leau Plodzick-Faoagali to progress to the last eight via a tight points decision.
“[Nyika needs] to keep his head and progress as he goes along. Our next opponent is a little bit different to this one, so we’ll go back to the drawing board, we’ll work on him, we’ll have a look at the footage, and we’ll work on what we need to do,” Meehan told Sky Sport.
Nyika landed more punches in a positive start as Baalla adopted a defensive stance.
The Kiwi’s jab troubled the African throughout the first round and Nyika’s speed kept him in control of the bout.
Baalla was on the wrong side of the Sri Lankan referee, although he did threaten Nyika with his reach and power.
Nyika asserted his dominance in the second round and Baalla’s punching was getting more loose and desperate.
Needing a knockout in the final round, Baalla went for more big hits, but Nyika held his nerve and consistently landed scoring punches through his opponent’s weak defence.
The inexperienced Moroccan was warned again by the referee in the third round for his conduct.
Nyika sat back, knowing the fight was his, finishing with aplomb with a flurry of late punches.
Baalla’s attempted bite towards the end of fight went unnoticed by the officials, but it did not halt Nyika’s charge towards a dominant opening victory in Tokyo.
This article was originally published on stuff.co.nz and is reproduced with permission
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