Hamilton, New Zealand’s David Nyika’s camp is now scrambling for a last-minute replacement after his Australian opponent, Blake Caparello, was removed from the bout just 10 days before the scheduled fight at the Viaduct Events Center in Auckland. Nyika, a 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist and three-time Commonwealth gold medalist was set to face the biggest challenge of his career.

With his newly acquired IBF Intercontinental Cruiserweight title on the line, Nyika was set to make his debut as a headliner. However, his experienced opponent, former world title challenger Caparello, failed a VADA test, which showed elevated testosterone levels. This came after the duo spent months promoting the bout, and even faced off on the Sky Tower.

Despite his intentions to challenge the results, Caparello has been removed from the September 14th bout. As of the time of writing, Duco Events, the organizers of the fight, are still looking for a last-minute replacement for Caparello. It’s worth mentioning that the event included the likes of former All-Black flanker Liam Messam, New Zealand heavyweights Uila Mau’u, Australian Alex Leapai, and many more. 

David Nyika is coming off a 4th-round technical knockout win over Michael Seitz, which transpired on the undercard of the historical undisputed heavyweight clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Nyika currently boasts a perfect 9-0 record and is expected to do extremely well on his way to a cruiserweight title. Nevertheless, despite this incident, Caparello has continued to defend himself while refuting the elevated levels of testosterone found in his system. 

Blake Caparello on being barred from the David Nyika fight

In a statement, Caparello said, “I have had independent doctors test me, both blood and urine, and all of my results show that I am completely clean. I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs, and I never will.” It’s worth noting that testing was not mandatory in this bout since Nyika is not among the top 15 in the World Boxing Council (WBC) rankings. 

Caparello even claimed that he was the one who requested to be tested before the fight, in the first place. Nonetheless, Caparello expressed deep embarrassment over the situation. “These allegations are deeply embarrassing for me, my team, and my family,” he said. “I will be contesting these findings and am very confident that my name will be cleared.”

Whether Caparello’s elevated testosterone levels were due to performance-enhancing substances or not, the unfortunate reality is that Nyika will now face an opponent he wasn’t prepared for. This also casts a shadow over Caparello’s reputation, blemishing a career that includes a WBC Continental Americas cruiserweight title win. Who do you think David Nyika should face next?