The Differing Fates of Junior Fa, Hemi Ahio & David Nyika at Kambosos vs Haney
Three kiwi boxers fighting in the same overseas event? You don’t get that every week, that’s for sure. But old mate Lou DiBella and Bob Arum/Top Rank had a big one in Melbourne on Sunday arvo as Aussie George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos took on American Devin Haney for the undisputed lightweight world title. All the major belts on the line. Huge yarns – the lightweight division had never been unified in the four-belt era but it has now after Haney won a convincing decision in unanimous fashion.
Strange that they held it on a Sunday afternoon in Melbourne rather than a more ideal Saturday night. But that was the fault of the American broadcasters who therefore got to have it on their own Saturday night instead. Money talks. So it goes. The important thing is that Lou DiBella also promotes Junior Fa so he was able to get JF on the main card for his first fight since the Joseph Parker loss, been a long and annoying stretch out of the ring for Junior.
Then not only was he here, his City Kickboxing bro Hemi Ahio was also able to get on the main card and so was David Nyika who has at least some CKB connections having used the gym in the past. Nyika is now working with the same trainer, Andy Lee, as Joseph Parker and his previous two professional bouts came on the undercard of Parker fights. Including Parker vs Fa where all three of these dudes were also involved. So this is the second time they’ve all fought at the same event - albeit this one was across the ditch.
JUNIOR FA
He may have been the most notable of the kiwi trio but Junior Fa was first up as the main event got underway. The opening bout, with the other two lads listed as swing bouts which meant that the timing was fluid and dependant on the broadcasters. That can be quite a frisky one as far as pre-fight preparation goes but at least that wasn’t the case for Junior Fa as he battled former Aussie contender Lucas Browne.
Browne has agitated to fight Joseph Parker for several years but never been able to make that happen. He’s seen as a journeyman these days and at 43 years of age his best boxing is certainly behind him. But he did come into this fight with a 31-3 professional record with 26 wins by KO. Browne once won the WBA regular title after he beat Ruslan Chagaev and he’s fought Dillian Whyte in the past – getting knocked out in the sixth for his first career defeat (that was in 2018). His other losses have come to David Allen (2019) and Paul Gallen (2021). The Gallen defeat was a proper shocker...
Hence Junior Fa, whose only loss had come against Joseph Parker in a commendable 12-round decision, was a heavy favourite against the man they call Big Daddy. Seeking a decent-name scalp to get his career back on track after that Parker loss and the long break between fights. Junior made his ring-walk with a massive smile on his face at around 1pm NZT to a remix of Bill Withers’ Lovely Day (with Eugene Bareman just behind him in jandals and trackpants like a champ). Things were swell at that point.
A few minutes later he was peeling himself up off the canvas having been demolished in the first round. An absolutely stunning upset. Fa had gotten straight into his work with a bounce in his step, dangling that leading left jab out there against the more compacted Browne. Landed a decent left upper cut in the clinch. But we’d only been going about seventy seconds when he got caught by a hammer blow right from Browne which dropped him to the canvas in obvious distress (should add that he was checked out by the doc afterwards and was in decent shape, all things considered).
Despite stumbling all over the place he was inexplicably allowed to continue but the fight was basically over already. His corner later said they couldn’t really see the punch nor the possible convulsions of Fa on the ground as he frantically clawed his way back to his feet to beat the count. The ref should’ve stopped it there and then – he was clearly in no fit shape. Fa only lasted about another thirty seconds before he got copped with a similar shot to the first one, down again, game over.
This was one of those annoying instances in boxing where you’re always a chance if you’ve got knockout power. That’s exactly what Lucas Browne possesses and he rocked Fa with a ruthless hit that blew away all pre-fight expectations. Was Junior showing the effects of 462 days since his previous fight? Was this a cause of getting covid a couple months ago? Was he carrying too much weight? Was he complacent against a dangerous opponent, the highest quality opponent he’s fought in which he was the favourite to win? Would he have performed better with a tune-up fight ahead of time?
It’s possible that all of those things are true. It’s also possible that none of them are true and he simply got hit by a monster shot. He wouldn’t be the first heavyweight boxer to lose against the odds due to the effects of one hefty punch. Let his guard down and didn’t see it coming. Everything changes in that instant. Lucas Browne could tell you a thing or two about that as it’s exactly what Paul Gallen did to him.
So credit where it’s due to Lucas Browne. However we’ve gotta get to the elephant in the room because both of those knockdowns had some controversy about them and after checking the replays Fa’s team have challenged the result due to what they perceive as “unintentional fouls”. Specifically that both of Browne’s knockdowns were illegal back-of-the-head punches. And, tell ya what, they’ve got a decent argument there...
You don’t often see fight results get flipped after the fact so it’d pay not to be too expectant. Yet that second one in particular looked like an old fashioned rabbit punch and the first one wasn’t too different.
Now, there’s a reason the ref says right before the fight that both fighters must protect themselves at all times. Fa obviously didn’t do that. Left himself vulnerable for a split second and was whalloped. But also if you’re being dropped by a punch behind the ear then that can do a fair bit of damage.
Gonna have to wait and see how this one plays out because a loss here could be quite a devastator for Junior Fa’s future prospects. Joseph Parker has had a hard enough time building himself up again after back to back defeats to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte – a literal champion and top tier challenger – so for Fa to go down to Parker and Brown could leave him in a tough spot. He’s 32 years old. Older than Parker and without the global name recognition that JP has been able to acquire. Let’s see what happens.
HEMI AHIO
Hemi Ahio was up next but you’d be forgiven if you missed it. The NZ pay per view had it covered but it was a pathetic effort from ESPN in America who didn’t even cover the swing bouts; Hemi Ahio was literally fighting in the background while their panelists chatted about the main event in preview - you could see him on the big screen!
Extremely odd broadcasting behaviour as they basically filled for time for like ninety full minutes rather than covering actual fights that were going on in the background. Luckily the UK coverage was more forthcoming... though guys like Ahio and Nyika are seeking exposure as well as experience with these fights so it’s a damn shame when that kinda thing happens.
Initially Ahio was supposed to take on American Joe Jones (13-4, 10 KOs) but Jones pulled out in favour of a fight in his homeland next week instead. In his place has stepped up Christian Ndzie Tsoye at late notice, a Cameroonian-Australian with a 5-4 pro record who, coincidentally, was drawn to fight David Nyika in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. That is, until CNT pulled a no-show for the weigh-in which led to Nyika getting the walkover win on his way to a second Comm Games gold medal. The reason for the no-show being that he’d gone AWOL: Ndizie Tsoye was one of eight Cameroonian athletes that went missing from the athlete’s village and he seems to have remained in Australia ever since, setting himself up as a pro.
Not much of a resume but CNT did go the distance with Justis Huni a year ago. Huni who beat Paul Gallen soon afterwards and was in negotiations to fight Junior Fa for ages although they were unable to cut a deal in the end. Huni missed the Olympics with an injury but is back in the mix now and taking on compatriot Joseph Goodall in his sixth pro fight next week. Should be some interesting repercussions across Aussie boxing after that one, particularly given Lucas Browne’s sudden one-punch resurgence.
Anyway, Hemi Ahio was a heavy favourite as he strolled into the ring for an 8-round scrap against Christian Ndzie Tsoye. A fight which shaped up as a little bit of a slugfest as both dudes threw aggressive stuff at each other although it was Ahio whose combinations looked like they were doing more damage. It was shaping up as a fight which could have been a lot of fun... and then the bell went for the end of the first and that was that. Christian Ndzie Tsoye didn’t come back out, retiring with an elbow injury. TKO victory for Ahio to move to 19-0 for his career. Kind of an anticlimax but he got the win.
Albeit a frustrating win. Only one round of action and he didn’t even get to provide a fancy stoppage for the highlight reel. Even if he had, the American broadcast didn’t bother to cover the fight. Not exactly a showcase moment. But he does have that tidy unbeaten record so hopefully the dude can get a little momentum in his career and start finding some more prominent bouts because there’s no doubt he’s ready. Gotta find out how far this bloke can take it, you know?
DAVID NYIKA
Finally it was David Nyika’s turn, and if the other two blokes had been heavy favourites then Nyika was all the way through the other side of the mirror because they weren’t even taking bets on this fight at the TAB, such was his expected dominance against Aussie local Karim Maatalla. Not an opponent anyone knew much about. Nyika with all his pedigree. The result was never in doubt.
Not that it stopped David Nyika from turning it up for the crowd with his Boba Fett entrance...
Maaaaate. There ya go.
This was Nyika’s third pro fight and his second since joining the tutelage of Joseph Parker’s trainer (and Tyson Fury’s assistant trainer) Andy Lee. Always curious to see how that goes, Joe Parker’s for sure shown a few new traits since he got working with Lee and Nyika is a bloke who has largely been self-trained and as such does have a slightly unorthodox style to him. Very tall and upright. Wide hands. No crouch. It’ll be fun to see how he develops with Lee (Lee wasn’t in attendance for this fight).
The first round was pretty uneventful. We saw a couple nice lefts from Nyika but mostly he was in his comfort zone trying to figure things out. Some decent defensive stuff in there as Maatalla displayed enough to show that he wasn’t going to be a walkover, that he’d at least allow Nyika past the first round unlike his previous two pro fights. Also unlike the previous two kiwi fights on the day. Oddly, this was a five rounder. It had been listed as 4-6 rounds on the event card which you sorta assumed meant four or six but they ended up doing five. No dramas.
In the second round we started to see more body shots landing from DN. Mataala was beginning to feel them too, although he did hurl a few nice counters back in Nyika’s direction. The Olympic bronze medallist was always the man in control though. Chuck in a few rights over the top to the head. Nyika then swapped to a southpaw stance to start the third and swiftly landed a strong right upper cut and another jab before slipping on the canvas and stumbling slightly, reverting to his regular stance as the lads re-engaged. He’d go back to setting as a leftie later in the round and it did seem to provide him with success.
By which point we were three rounds down in a five round fight and Nyika had most likely won the lot of them, leaving Karim Mataalla needing at least a knockdown to have any chance of a result. And fair play to the dude because he came out more aggressive over the last couple sessions and did manage to connect with a few things. He had Nyika against the ropes at one point, granted the kiwi fighter was able to squeeze his way out of there easily enough. But you’ve gotta say this was definitely a step up from Nyika’s first two cruiserweight pro bouts with Maatalla bringing a heap of heart and durability to the ring. It was a much closer fourth round even if it was largely inconsequential as Nyika emerged unscathed.
Then we got some similar areas in the fifth as Nyika stayed a little bit in his bag, making sure he handled Mataalla’s more frantic attempts to spark something. Nyika would often cop a few then land a better one in response but on the basis of their respective outputs there was a decent case to say that Karim Maatalla won the fifth and final round. Not that the overall bout was in any doubt but fair play to the fella.
Thus we went to the judges who scored it 49-46, 48-47 & 49-46 all in favour of David Nyika. In other words, they gave him four rounds on two cards and three rounds on the other. A solid win that moves him to 3-0 as a pro and from here he moves on towards one last Commonwealth Games swing as he seeks a third gold medal. Good day at the office for him.
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