'I love this woman': Star boxer's toughest fight yet as fiancée diagnosed with head and neck cancer at the age of 24

This article was originally published by Stuff and is reproduced with permission

Kiwi boxer David Nyika is fighting more than just journeyman Chinese pugilist Wuzhati Nuerlang in his adopted home town of Gatton, Queensland, on Saturday.

in fact, you could say the beefed up former middleweight is the least of the New Zealand cruiserweight contender's problems.

The truth is the Olympic bronze medallist from the Waikato, and 11-1 professional, should have too much class, and reach, for an opponent who presents chiefly as a stepping-stone to greater ambitions.

Watch David Nyika vs Wuzhati Nuerlang in the 2025 Gatton Xmas Bash, live and exclusive on Stan Sport on Saturday

But other elements come into play this week for Nyika as he puts the finishing touches on preparations for his second fight since his dramatic January KO in the three-weeks-notice IBF world title fight against Jai Opetaia on the Gold Coast.

Like, the fact his Australian fiancée Lexy Thornberry is in the middle of her own fight, for her life, after being diagnosed with head and neck cancer at the age of 24.

"Sadly I'm not joking," the former Love Island Australia star revealed last month, alongside a photo of her in the hospital.

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"In the second picture I posted above, I couldn't stop laughing that they put me in a robe for my X-ray - I thought it was so dramatic. A couple days later I was diagnosed with head and neck cancer."

Nyika's trainer, and mentor, Noel Thornberry, is Lexy's father, and both boxer and coach have a little bit to be distracted by right now.

Nyika has little video footage of Nuerlang to study and you can understand how this might be a potential banana skin fight for Nyika.

But fretting is most definitely not the style of this 30-year-old athlete who calls himself "the Nice Guy", and very much lives up to that moniker.

Nor is fitness for a fellow who only has to look at a barbell to develop a six-pack.

"I was eight weeks' fit about six weeks ago," he nods.

"I've got plenty of rounds in the bank, and I've been more trying to maintain my level of fitness over the last 3-4 weeks. There's not much more I could have done to prepare. Mentally, it's been a huge challenge, but this is what life is about, man. If it was easy, it wouldn't be worth doing it."

Truth is Nyika doesn't know how fully he will be able to focus in fight week ahead of next Saturday's card which will be broadcast on Stan Sport in Australia.

His fiancée is just a week or so into chemotherapy, and he's determined to be by her side as much as she needs him to be.

"Lex is doing great, and long may that continue. If this year has taught me anything, it's prepare for the worst and hope for the best. And resilience. I will dial in no matter what. I'm fit and healthy, and doing everything I can to put myself in the best position. I'll make it work."

In fact, he doesn't mind admitting, it's about more than boxing now for him.

"I've never liked fighting because I get to hurt people. It's an outlet – a way for me to express myself in a way not many other people can. I feel lucky to be able to do what I do. I have sport. I have Lex, her family and my family, and the whole of New Zealand. I love that I'm able to showcase my hard work to my country, and my people."

So, what does he know about his opponent?

Certainly not how to pronounce his name, he chuckles.

"He started campaigning at super middleweight. I've heard he's gone as high as 250lb. He's not a tall guy, (1.76m, or 5'9) and his weight has fluctuated to a fully fledged heavyweight.

"I'm expecting him to be durable. There's not a hell of a lot of footage on him, but I've seen a few of his fights at super middleweight. I think he's one-dimensional. I believe he'll be as tough as they come, with the extra weight, and his resistance should be a lot higher."

Nuerlang's record is, well, OK. He has 17 wins, 4 defeats and 2 draws.

Thirteen of those victories have come by knockout.

"He can punch down at the lighter weights, and it will be interesting to see if he carries that up to cruiserweight," adds Nyika.

"I've seen footage of him on the pads, and he looks like a bit of a brick – like he could put a dent in you. It's a matter of whether or not he can pin me down."

Two others from the Thornberry stable – heavyweight Alex Leapai Jnr and Noel's son Cassidy – will be on the card, but it will be Nyika they're coming to see in his third fight in Gatton.

The long and short of it is it's a bout the Kiwi, who has 22cm of height and reach on the Chinese fighter, must win to work back to where he wants to get to in the division.

"Every fight opens another door... I need to win this," he says.

"To do it in my new home town and to send it back to New Zealand, it's golden. I'd love to make this a regular thing. This is all possible because Noel knows how to make things work. I'd be doing him and Lexy a disservice by not giving everything to this opportunity."

Nyika hopes the fight night he headlines can promote awareness for the cancer cause and help with fundraising efforts, via a gofundme page set up, for his wife-to-be's treatment and recovery.

It is the former Olympic bronze medallist's first fight since his June stoppage of Aucklander Nik Charalampous on the Gallen-SBW undercard in Sydney.

"Oh man, I wear my heart on my sleeve. I love this woman. I will do everything I can to make this journey as painless and as comfortable as it possibly could be," Nyika said.

"I'm feeling really confident we've got the right team around us. You've got a young woman with a curable disease. I'm really confident and have a lot faith in the medical team we have here."

The boxer said it had taken a few weeks to process the news and ramifications of the diagnosis, but now they had sprung into "dealing-with-it" mode.

"Time has never gone any slower. The time spent waiting to find out the plan was excruciating. It took every ounce of our strength just to keep it together.

"But I'm built for this. My dad is a pharmacist, my mum is a physio, and I've been a fulltime athlete since I was 18, and worked with some outstanding medical people. I feel so fortunate that I'm able to share this journey with someone I care about so much.

"I'm very confident we'll get through this and have some amazing stories to tell our kids. What a fairytale year it has been… though it all feels pretty rough at the moment. When we tell our kids these stories, they'll think we're from this amazing storybook."

Lexy's father, and Nyika's trainer, Noel is being pulled in multiple directions.

"He goes straight into solution mode, and always wants to give as much as he can when there's really not much he can do," notes Nyika.

"He's just worried sick. It's an opportunity for me to prove to him he can trust me with his daughter... with his family."

Nyika said with Lexy now set up at their home, having undergone the surgical work she needed to in hospital, it was now about him effectively becoming two people – the boxer preparing for his fight, and the fiancé tending to his betrothed.

"From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep I'm trying to think of the best way I can help Lex. She's supported me from the day we met to achieve my selfish goals and dreams, this is the least I can do to pay it back and forward.

"I've got the garden looking beautiful. Our chickens are in the backyard laying six eggs a day, which is coming in handy. I thought I was preparing for kids … but now it turns out I've been preparing for this chapter, which was unexpected, but we're ready for it.

"I'm super capable of looking after Lex and giving her everything she needs."

The fighter, of course, knows no other way. It's time to fight, this time for a most precious life.

- with Wide World of Sports