Haye vs. Ruiz: The retirement or the return of the Quiet Man?
December 16th, 2009
By Richard McNamara: Firstly I’d like to thank everyone who commented on my first article “Haye v Klitschko debate – setting the record straight” much appreciated and I only hope this article achieves what the last one did, and gets people talking about boxing rather than hurling abuse. I thought I would write about this subject because as we all know, John Ruiz is the mandatory challenger to WBA champion David Haye and so this fight has to happen before Haye steps anywhere near a Klitschko.
Ruiz is a former two-time heavy weight world champion, long gone are the days when he first fought Holyfield to fill the WBA vacancy back in 2000, but he’s still going to ask some questions of Haye. If not looked upon as a serious opponent Ruiz may well cause an upset, he did loose on August 12th 2000 by by unanimous decision and that result made Holyfield the first to win a world heavy weight title on four separate occasions (legend). But many observers, boxing reporters and media felt Ruiz the underdog at the time, had done enough to win.
Come early 2010 when Ruiz steps in with Haye no doubt in many peoples eyes he will be the underdog once more, but look at his record and win or lose he’s been in with some quality fighters and he’s going to bring a wealth of experience to the ring with him along with some potentially harmful power. Out of his 44 wins 30 have come by way of KO and even as a Haye fan, I’ll be the first to admit his chins not the greatest on the planet. If Hayes steps into the ring with Ruiz whilst focusing on the Klitchsckos, ill prepared and distracted I’m afraid Wlad and Vitali could well be a distant dream and “the quiet man” does indeed return.
However if Haye enters the ring that night with his mind on the job at hand and in his usual supreme condition, it could be retirement for “the quiet man”. Haye has youth on his side, has a more intelligent boxing brain than I gave him credit for, to me the Valuev fight though boring showed Haye is not just a KO brawler, but he can actually think on his feet. His obvious advantages over Ruiz are his speed combined with his power, out of his 23 wins 21 have come by way of KO all be it the majority at cruiser weight, but his few outings at heavy have showed he can bang.
Early 2010 in my opinion could bring us an interesting heavy weight tile fight, in one corner a fighter though being a world champion still has much to prove at heavy weight, some would say still has a long way to go to gain acceptance. In the other an old time pro who craves to be back on top, I think someone is going to get knocked out come fight night and if his head’s in the right place, my money is on Haye to do the knocking out.
Opinions always welcome.
RMC
Tags: 24 Responses to “Haye vs. Ruiz: The retirement or the return of the Quiet Man?”
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Who ever think that Haye will Stop Ruiz is crazy. Ruiz will not be stop by Haye, He may lost by decision, but there is a big chance that they may even rob the fight from Ruiz. Is not about if he is bored or not its about the reality, And the reality is that nobody can stop Ruiz, he only been ko once and that was more than 12 years ago. Ruiz will give Haye a lot of trouble, not because he is Haye just cause thats Ruiz, thats his style and right now Ruiz is a much better fighter then 3 years ago.
Ruiz only been ko once and thats more the 10 years ago, What make you think haye will knock out Ruiz? Are you kidding me. I think Haye will win by decision, But it will be so close that they my even steal the fight from Ruiz. Dont expect haye to dominated Ruiz to easy, Ruiz will give Haye a lot of trouble and like i say he may even win it but get rob.
what makes people think hayes chins weak ? is it his loss to solis in the amateurs ? his loss to thompson during his rise to the top ? the fact that barrett slightly wobbled him ?
if people are serious about solis being a contender, then surely theres no harm in that…
if its hayes loss to thompson, then surely the fact that thompson was the man or one of the men at cruiserweight and was a true champion in every respect,with heart and true k’o power in his fists so theres no shame there.
and if its the wobble by barrett then he wont be the first topline world class fighter thats been tagged by barrett. surely the mark of the man is he’s come back and handed barretts backside to him.
the thompson fight was a true learning experience, which i might add more up and coming fighters should have rather than popping up at world level with a bum record full of wins vs c and b class fighters.
and in truth, the loss to solis was at amateur, and hell theres a whole world of difference between the 2, look at what haye’s acheived and look at the c and b class winning record solis holds so far.
before we slate fighters we should look into the facts before we speak. rate him on his wins and levels he’s fought at, and if his losses do need looking at,look at his opponent and experience level first.
An over the hill ruiz against a world champion David Haye at the top of his game …C’mon easyyyyyyy!
SAME O SAME OH ANOTHER FIGHT FOR THE PROMOTERS JUST TO MAKE A BUCK. RUIZ HAS NOTHING LEFT IN HIM HAYE IS NOT THAT GOOD EITHER(IN H.W DIVISION ANYWAYS)LOOK FOR THE UNDERCARD MAYBE YOU FIND BETTER MATCHED FIGHTS.
Good article man. It´s nice to see a boxing article based on the fighters´ fights, and not on hype. The article on the Klitschko – Johnson fight claiming Johnson would rip Klitschko up, when he hadn’t even done that to mediocre fighters, was just ridiculous.
I agree with you on Haye vs. Ruiz. I think Haye can win by KO, but nobody should underestimate The Quiet Man, he could spell trouble for Haye.
Kepp up the good work!
Haye will destroy Ruiz, Late KO or decision. Ruiz is one hell of a boring fighter. Too much speed from Haye and Ruiz can’t handle it.
more like this everyone post and show gilfoid thses are the articles we like get the hit rate up peeps
The problem is, Ruiz is a boring fighter, maybe the most boring of them all… If there was a belt for ‘most boring and spoiling heavyweight’ Ruiz would have it for years, although Kevin Johnson is a dangerous challenger for that title!
That said, it can become a problem for Haye. If ‘the quiet man’ can clinch and spoil his way through the fight, and Haye takes an other close 12 round decision his stock will plummet. On the other hand, if he catches Ruiz early -like Tua did) Haye’s stock will rise.
I so hate watching a Ruiz fight they are all boring but he wins he has an ability to throw a combination and then smoother and hold it is everything that is wrong in boxing the last decade. Ruiz might just hold, smoother and wrestle his way back to world heavyweight champion. Oh and all these heavyweights today look stiff, slow and uncordinated we need a superheavy weight division like 255 and up so big slow uncordinated fighters can fight each other and we can watch the best of speed and devasting power in fighters that are around 225
I’ve read an awful lot from Haye over the last few weeks and every comment aimed towards Ruiz has been extremely respectful. He has stated quite a few times that he can not look past Ruiz and expects a seasoned pro and a tough fight. He has also stated that he is not focused on a Klit fight…
Personally I think the fight with one of the Brothers is defiinitely on his mind. That said, I still think he will KO Ruiz.
You are giving Ruiz to much credit and it helps to make Haye look good. This is a poor match up and nothing more. Ruiz is a enigma and that’s it, just a puzzle. All his faults are still there and can easily be dealt with, Barrett would have a good chance against him let alone Haye. This is no threat to Haye, and of cause he will come prepared, nothing to get excited about.
Haye will avoid the Klitschkos for 2010 But there are a few HW who do pose a threat to Haye and who will be scrambling to get at him. And you know, they have a good chance. Arreola, Boytsov, Solis, and good old Tua, all would and will give him a run for his money. Don’t hold you breath though plenty of easier pickings out there and Haye will look to them first. Been over a year now and I haven’t seen anything exciting yet from Haye and I don’t see much coming for the first half of 2010. I dont count Ruiz as exciting.
Ruiz didn’t look good against David Tua, in fact I didn’t think he was going to get back up after the KO. I agree Haye will have to be well prepared for this fight, although a lot quicker than Ruiz, Ruiz might wear him down as in most of his fights he seems durable and trys to bully a smaller fighter and can certainly hang on. I would hope that Haye KO’s him early on preferably the first round.
I agree that the Ruiz of old may still have some ability but Haye with his speed and agility will knock him out before round 5.
Ruiz is on his way out
I have to agree with everything you’ve said here. Probably the only ubiased thing I read here in a long while.
Back to Ruiz – he’s more dangerous then people think, and it’s a very good point you mentioned he’s tons of experience on elite level.
Haye needs to be on top of his game to ko this guy – which is possible as even good ‘ol Golota nearing 40 put him down – but very difficult.
Actually I have to say something maybe controversial for some, but I really think that big brothers were rather avoiding this guy… He’s more experienced boxer and/or far bigger puncher than guys like Thompson, Johnson, Chambers and definitely light years above dmaged goods in form of Rahman. Actually I think that besides Klitschkos and Haye, he’s the best out there today, yet no one will fight him because of his marketability/potential upset ratio.
So Haye has a tough task in front of him, which I believe he’ll pass in flying colors
brilliant write up your the best writer on site
is this the same john ruiz that an inexperienced david tua destroyed in 17 seconds! thought so, but please continue talking about these phony champoins past and present since the retirement of lennox lewis, the last true heavey weight king.
david tua versus any heavey weight on the planet right now and its lights out! ask ruiz!
tua’s got a rapid fire 3 fights against medium to good heaveys mainly just to get ring rust out(after he koed wbo no. 6 ranked shane cameron in two) before he fights for a number one contender spot at the end of the year.
THEN LOOK OUT! klitschko’s, haye whoever, these guys are just f**kin average when compared to the lewis holyfield and past years heaveys.
its not their fault but they are average but thats why the world doesnt give a s**t about the heaveyweight title or division anymore!
none of these guys are exciting to watch. tua has never been hurt let alone knocked down in his career! has a bigger punch than tyson, either the left hook or over hand right and has a chin like holyfield!
dont believe me you tube him! the only reason he has never been world champ is because his been in and out of a court room for the last 6 or 7 years fighting his managers and promoters robbing me of his best years!
but now hes back and at 37 he still has 2 years a least before he retires.
i cant wait, mark my words you doubters cos im going to refer back to this article when it all happens!
I have never seen Haye fight but i can tell you Ruiz has never impressed me as a fighter. Punch, speed, tec., skill etc. I belive Haye will win
I think Haye will do it but maybe not as easy as some might think. Ruiz has been overshadowed by many other heavyweights but as his record shows, he can punch and has faced pretty much every type of fighter, tall guys, boxers, brawlers etc so Haye has to be clever and versatile.
I’d chop and change my style with someone so experienced..
Nice article, non biased, about actual boxing and not some racist slanderous trash like so many others here. Guys like you make it worth visiting this site..
M
another good well thought out way of writing
good write up, nice and unbiased
i agree adam unbiased story on this site makes a welome change , i this ruiz will have the same fait as when he fought tue !!!!
Haye is a pro
He is not going to go into a fight thinking about anything other than the guy in front of him. He knows he has all the time to think about other fighters after he takes care of Ruiz.
This is hayes only chance as a heavyweight. If he wants to become a legend and save the division, then hes cant lose.
Haye is a scientific fighter, his whole team use science and intelligent to train and to win.
Haye will destroy ruiz before round 6. Soon as he starts to get through with some big shots there is no chance Ruiz will stick around.
i like this, breath of fresh air on this website