Olympic heavyweight bronze medallist David Nyika will be a "great success" in professional boxing, predicts to veteran promoter Dean Lonergan.
One of the most exciting names in boxing after catching the eye as an amateur in recent years, Nyika is now preparing to launch his career as a professional fighter.
The 26-year-old has already won two Commonwealth Games gold medals - as a light-heavyweight at Glasgow 2014 and heavyweight at Gold Coast 2018 - and recently brought home bronze from the Tokyo Olympics last month.
And Lonergan, who was instrumental in the rise of fellow Kiwi fighter Joseph Parker, has already seen enough of Nyika to predict that the Hamilton native has what it takes to be a success.
"I watched Nyika in the Olympic Games, I was very impressed with what he had to do," Lonergan tells Newshub.
"He presents himself incredibly well. He's a fine-looking young man, he obviously trains incredibly hard.
"He'd be a fantastic asset for any promoter that manages to sign him."
Lonergan also says that Nyika should also drop down from heavyweight to cruiserweight, tipping him to "dominate" the division.
"He's got a wonderful career ahead of him - certainly as a cruiserweight going forward.
"It's a division I think he can dominate - if he gets the right coach No.1, and No.2 the right sparring, the right preparation and right matchmaker. These things are all a big deal in how a boxer's going to succeed - it's very much a team effort.
"He's got some big ideas, he wants to get across to the UK - he's said it in the media on a number of occasions.
"I think you're going to see another great success in David Nyika."
Nyika made his professional debut this year, defeating compatriot Jessie Maio on the undercard of another all-Kiwi bout, Parker's victory over Junior Fa at Spark Arena.
He trained alongside Parker and then-coach Kevin Barry, while he has also spent a time as part of Israel Adesanya's wider sparring team at Auckland's City Kickboxing.
