The 32-year-old has never been knocked out, with his lone stoppage loss coming due to a knee injury.
After going down in devastating fashion earlier in the year, Nyika’s aware that he can’t sleep on his journeyman opponent.
“When you’ve got a guy that doesn’t have anything to lose, they become quite dangerous, so I won’t take anything for granted in this fight,” he says.
“This feels like a last hurrah for him, and if he does well, good on him, but I’m here to knock him out.”
Promoter David Higgins says the fight is an opportunity for his charge to make a statement.
“He’s [Charalampous] never been stopped by a punch properly, so if David could stop him by TKO or knockout, that makes a good statement. He’s technically good and has a good chin, so it’ll be a good challenge for David.”
The second iteration of Nyika doesn’t need many in-ring adjustments – it’s the mental shift that’s the main difference, especially as the two-time Commonwealth Games champion bounces back from a devastating defeat.
He admits the Opetaia loss is the biggest mental hurdle he’s had to overcome, on par with a three-year period when he trained on his own in the lead-up to the 2020 Olympics, where he would go on to claim bronze.
How Nyika handles adversity this time around will determine how far he’ll go in the sport.
“I beat myself up so much [back then] and now I need to take a bit of pressure off myself because you can beat yourself into the ground.
“I’m very self-critical and this is a brutal sport, so I’m doing everything that I should to get back to where I want to be, but it’s mentally challenging.”
For Charalampous, it’s a potential flaw he could look to expose next month against a fighter he calls “an overrated pretty boy”.
“He [Nyika] slept for at least five minutes. Your brain doesn’t recover quickly from that.
“They might say he’s better, but in the back of his mind, he’s going to have that fear of going to sleep again and anyone on any night can hit someone and put him to sleep.”
Nyika and Charalampous have a history as sparring partners, with the former being 18 in their first in-ring run-in.
Charalampous recalls being impressed in their first meeting.
“I thought I was the man at the time. We’d have heaps of good sparring rounds and I’d be like, ‘this kid’s really good’.
“I remember when he went to the Commonwealth Games and I said, ‘you better win to make me feel better about myself’, and then he won.”
Plenty of time has since passed, and Nyika’s acknowledges he’s a changed fighter.
“I don’t think he’s evolved or developed at all since we last sparred. I’ve got a lot more tools in my arsenal now, so I’ll be too mobile, too fast, too sharp and if I keep my powder dry, I think I can stop him.”
As Nyika returns to square one, his team are taking a measured approach to the title after a hit-and-miss at a life-altering shot against Opetaia.
“I don’t think he wants to go too early,” Higgins says.
“I think he wants to bank some rounds and some experience, so I think given his age and the experience he already has, another two years is a good timeframe to have another run at the title.”
