There was never a concern among David Nyika’s team to secure a new opponent in time to save the show.

Duco Events, Nyika’s primary promoter, have lined up Western Pennsylvania’s Tommy Karpency to face the unbeaten cruiserweight. Karpency replaces Blake Caparello, who was pulled after he tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone.

Nyika-Karpency will headline a Sept. 14 DAZN show from Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland, New Zealand.

“Securing such a high-quality opponent at short notice is incredibly difficult so we’re delighted with this result,” Duco Events’ David Higgins stated. “It says everything you need to know about Tommy Karpency. He is viewed by both the sanctioning bodies and our broadcast partner as – if anything– a step up from Caparello.

“With that, of course, comes a step up in the challenge for David Nyika. The stakes have just gone up significantly.”

Nyika (9-0, 8 knockouts) has stopped each of his last six opponents. The 2020 Olympian for New Zealand most recently defeated unbeaten Michael Seitz on the May 18 Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury undercard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He still gets to headline his first DAZN show with the quick call to action by his promotional team.

“That’s boxing,” shrugged Nyika. “My job is to take out whoever my promoters put in front of me . That’s what I’m going to do.

“Obviously I have a huge amount of respect for a guy like Tommy who has been in with the best and still continues to perform at an elite level –but it’s my time now. Tommy Karpency is about to learn that the hard way.”

Karpency (31-8-1, 19 KOs) is just 2-2 in his last four starts. He earned a club-level win over Joe Jones on Aug. 10 in Warren, Ohio.

The fringe contender unsuccessfully challenged then lineal/WBC champ Adonis Stevenson and then-unbeaten WBO titlist Nathan Cleverly. He also suffered  knockout defeats to Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez and Oleksandr Gvozdyk in non-title fights. Ramirez defeated Karpency in his first fight at light heavyweight after he previously held the WBO super middleweight title. Gvozdyk defeated the Midwestern southpaw in 2016, more than two years before his championship-winning knockout over Stevenson.

The fight versus Nyika will mark the first for Karpency in New Zealand. It is just his third outside North America through more than 18 pro years.

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