David Nyika on receiving end of bite attempt in Olympic boxing debut

New Zealand heavyweight boxer David Nyika has easily won his opening fight at the Tokyo Games, with a unanimous points decision victory over Morocco’s Youness Baalla.

Moroccan Youness Baalla appears to bite David Nyika in the final round of their round of 16 bout.
Photo: Steve McArthur/Photosport Ltd 2021

Nyika outclassed his opponent who tried to bite him at one stage during the final round, which shocked Nyika.

“It didn’t think he would get away with it. He tried to bite my cheek bone but luckily it was a little bit slippery. He probably got a mouthful of sweat – he also had his mouthguard in so no broken skin,” Nyika told Sky Sport.

Nyika said Baalla has been on the boxing scene for a while and is usually “a calm and composed guy,” but had a word with him immediately after the fight.

“I said ‘it’s okay’ but he wasn’t happy… but yeah that was foul play.”

Nyika’s coach, Billy Meehan, told Sky Sport that he’d been surprised to see Baalla’s bite.

“You don’t expect to see that, at this level, but David handled it brilliantly.

“We just had a bit of a laugh about it. It doesn’t matter what’s thrown in front of him, he handles it.”

Meehan said it had been a clinical performance.

“We had a plan going in, and David fought exactly to our fight plan… he was well and truly in control.”

Nyika said despite carrying the flag in the opening ceremony as a late replacement for Hamish Bond he didn’t feel he was a genuine Olympian until having competed.

“It’s one down three to go..really stoked to get through that one. It was always going to be a bit niggly – I haven’t been in the ring for nearly a year now.

“The performance was what it needed to be.”

Nyika’s quarterfinal bout is on Friday.