INSPO Fitness Journal April 2017
Everything from nutrition, beauty, home and workplace wellbeing to health, performance – and so much more.
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>