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INSPO Fitness Journal April 2017

Everything from nutrition, beauty, home and workplace wellbeing to health, performance – and so much more.

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PACKING<br />

A PUNCH<br />

Pathway to Podium<br />

BY LISA POTTER<br />

When it comes to setting<br />

goals, Joshua Nyika isn’t<br />

afraid to front up for the<br />

big punches. And the same<br />

applies to his sport. Josh is<br />

the top ranked New Zealand<br />

welterweight (69kg) currently<br />

working towards a spot at<br />

the Commonwealth Games<br />

and then hopefully Olympic<br />

Games selection.<br />

The 25-year-old lives and breathes the<br />

sport of boxing and it is also part of<br />

the fabric of his family, with both his<br />

father Simon and brother David also a force<br />

to be reckoned with in the boxing ring.<br />

Unbeaten in New Zealand in more than<br />

two years, Joshua thrives on succeeding. And<br />

this applies to life outside of the sporting<br />

arena also. The hardworking athlete is also<br />

a qualified lawyer, managing to combine his<br />

sporting and academic goals throughout his<br />

years at Waikato University.<br />

Since taking up boxing aged 18, Joshua<br />

won his first Elite Open National title in 2014,<br />

and won his first international fight a year<br />

later at the Oceania tournament in Canberra.<br />

Narrowly missing out on Rio Olympics<br />

selection, he’s continuing his quest to be fitter,<br />

faster and better for the next Olympic Games.<br />

A member of Sport Waikato’s regional talent<br />

programme, Pathway to Podium, Joshua<br />

focuses on being a well-rounded person as<br />

well as an athlete.<br />

<strong>Fitness</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> finds out more...<br />

What motivates you?<br />

I want to challenge myself and improve as<br />

much as I can to be the best I possibly can,<br />

because this is the reason I believe we are on<br />

this earth: to do awesome stuff, and be the<br />

best possible version of ourselves. I also want<br />

to make the people I care about proud (ironically,<br />

it’s the people who care about me, re-<br />

gardless of my success that I want to impress<br />

the most). As well as those close to me, I want<br />

to establish myself on a wider scale as well.<br />

What are your greatest successes to date?<br />

– 2014 New Zealand National Championships<br />

winner in Queenstown;<br />

– 2015 Oceania Continental Boxing Championships<br />

Gold Medallist; and<br />

– Representing New Zealand at various<br />

Olympic qualification tournaments.<br />

What’s on the cards this year?<br />

I am aiming to solidify my place as the top<br />

welterweight in New Zealand boxing early in<br />

<strong>2017</strong> at a National ranking tournament, after<br />

an early <strong>2017</strong> warm up fight. Then we head<br />

overseas to earn a ticket to the Gold Coast<br />

Commonwealth Games 2018.<br />

What are your future goals?<br />

To win a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth<br />

Games, and onto higher honours beyond<br />

2018; 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo<br />

and a possible professional career.<br />

How did you become involved in boxing?<br />

I always considered myself a top athlete<br />

individually, involved in athletics, running,<br />

and football (soccer), and I didn’t want to be<br />

left out of the fun when my younger brother<br />

David and Dad got into the sport of boxing.<br />

We went down to Ringside Gym in Hamilton<br />

and got started. I had my first fight more<br />

than five years ago, in 2011.<br />

What is your greatest challenge?<br />

The most challenging aspect of the sport is<br />

the mental fatigue that comes with anticipating<br />

competition, the consistent mental and<br />

physical preparation, and the high degree<br />

of “unknowns” in a sport as chaotic as mine.<br />

In each fight we have three fast-paced three<br />

minute rounds against another guy who has<br />

been training his best to beat YOU, as you are<br />

training your best to beat HIM.<br />

The team around you?<br />

– My brother and training partner David<br />

Nyika has been a front-runner in the family<br />

in terms of boxing, and has set a high standard<br />

becoming probably the best amateur<br />

boxer New Zealand has ever had;<br />

– My dad Simon who is a highly enthusiastic<br />

fan of the sport;<br />

– My coach Rick Ellis, who is highly ambitious,<br />

with long-sighted aspirations for us,<br />

– Daniella Meier who oversees my campaigns<br />

and keeps me accountable with all<br />

the detailed areas of sport that separate the<br />

“great” from the “really good”;<br />

– My family and friends who keep the machine<br />

rolling with strength.<br />

26 <strong>INSPO</strong> – FITNESS JOURNAL APRIL <strong>2017</strong>

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