Former world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker has dipped his toe into the business of boxing promotion, lending his weight to the title aspirations of fellow Kiwi David Nyika.
With his own stocks rising inside the ring, Parker, 32, has signed on as co-promoter - along with Duco Events and Thornberry Promotions - for a four-fight deal designed to catapult his young protege to a world title of his own.
Nyika, a two-time Commonwealth Games champion and Olympic bronze medallist, is unbeaten in nine fights (eight knockouts) as a professional cruiserweight and hopes to take the next step in his evolution, when he faces a yet-to-be-announced opponent at Auckland's Viaduct Events Centre on September 14.
"It's incredibly exciting," he said. "I've got to do the business in the ring, but this takes me a massive step closer to realising my dream of becoming champion of the world and bringing the world cruiserweight title to New Zealand for the first time."
Nyika, 28, has been ranked No.14 by the International Boxing Federation, with Australian Jai Opetaia currently holding that belt.
His most recent outing came on the undercard of the Tyson Fury v Oleksander Usyk heavyweight unification bout, won by the Ukrainian, at Riyadh, where Nyika accounted for German Michael Seitz by fourth-round knockout.
Parker is awaiting another crack at the heavyweight crown, after rekindling his career with consecutive wins over American Deontay Wilder and Chinese Zhilei Zhang. He already has one eye on life beyond the ring.
"It's something I always knew was in my future," he said. “To have the chance to help a massive talent like David reach his full potential is really cool.
"Teaming up with my long-term management team at Duco Boxing and learning from David Higgins - the timing is definitely right.
"My journey as a fighter is far from finished and David is already well on the way to a world title, so it’s an incredibly exciting time for Kiwi boxing."
Notwithstanding the world championship heroics of Mea Motu and Lani Daniels, the promoters claim Nyika's September fight will be the "first true black-tie boxing event" in New Zealand, since the much-hyped 2021 Parker v Junior Fa showdown.
