Haye: “I can be more gung-ho against him” [Ruiz]
February 1st, 2010
By Scott Gilfoid: WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (23-1, 21 KO’s) will have another opponent that does his talking in the ring instead of outside of it when Haye faces former two-time World Boxing Association heavyweight champion John Ruiz (44-8-1, 30 KO’s) on April 3rd, at the M.E.N. Arena, Manchester, Lancashire. Haye, 29, has mixed emotions about facing the “Quiet Man,” saying in an article at ESPN.co, “Ruiz is a dull guy and perhaps so boring even I won’t be able to trash talk him. He has no personality and that is reflected in his marketability. Nobody wants him. He [Ruiz] is a two-time world heavyweight champion that nobody wants to fight.”
However, Haye could find himself as an unpopular fighter unless he improves on the dull fighting style that he used in his fight against Valuev. Haye ran for the full 12 rounds, averaging only 10 punches thrown per round. Even in Ruiz’s most boring fights, he threw more punches than that per round. Haye also didn’t exactly sparkle against the 38-year-old Monte Barrett in November 2008. Those two fights are the extent of Haye’s heavyweight experience unless you want to count his fight against the obscure Tomasz Bonin as heavyweight experience.
Barrett is a 2nd tier heavyweight. You can basically only count Haye’s fight against the aging, slow moving Valuev as experience against a top tier fighter, and that fight win is made less impressive given Valuev’s very questionable win over the 46-year-old Evander Holyfield only 11 months earlier in December 2008. Valuev didn’t fight anyone after the Holyfield fight, and it’s a good thing, because chances are he might have lost if it was a against a top tier fighter.
Haye says “But he [Ruiz] will be good for me. I can be more gung-ho against him. I can do my usual stuff and it will come off.” Haye appears to be saying that he plans on letting his hands go more and throwing more power shots against Ruiz than he did in his fight against Valuev. Let’s hope so. Haye needs to look good against Ruiz if he wants to ensure that a future fight against World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko or light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins turn out to be mega fights.
The boxing public in the United States might not get too excited about seeing a Haye-Klitschko or Haye-Hopkins fight if Haye turns in another disappointing performance. As of now, Haye’s recent performances in the ring haven’t matched his bold talk out of the ring. Haye looks nothing like the way he talks, and he doesn’t seem like the same fighter he once was while fighting smaller cruiserweights.
Ruiz says in an article at Primera Hora “I’ve never felt so calm and comfortable. I have a new trainer, a new promoter [Golden Boy Promotions] and another chance to become world champion. My style is perfect to beat Haye. I have to be aggressive. I’ve studied him a little and I know how to beat Haye.” The way to beat Haye is how 40-year-old Carl Thompson beat him in a 5th round TKO in 2004.
Thompson continuously came forward looking to land hard shots during the fight. Haye was forced to fight and quickly tired himself out and was dropped twice. Ruiz could do the same thing. Haye won’t be able to get away from Ruiz like he did against Valuev, because Ruiz is much quicker on his feet and cuts off the ring a lot better than the slow 7-foot 320 pound Valuev.
Tags: 17 Responses to “Haye: “I can be more gung-ho against him” [Ruiz]”
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Ruiz will win this easy Kaye is just a talker..if he can box like his mouth can maybe we’ll have a good show to watch. Ruiz will win TKO and then hopefully he’ll fight Tua again
@ Boxingfandan. Thank you for pointing out what i’ve said before too.. Tactics. Haye’s tactics for that fight where clear and he executed them perfectly = a win agains Valuev. And he even rocked him.. tell me another fighter thats A) Beaten Vaulev & B) Made rocked him like Haye did.
SHOCK that Scott wrote this article. Note every time he writes an article it is abotut Haye, slagging him off and always ALWAYS uses the “10 punches per round” line..
What a c*nt. Mate, I said it before and i’ll say it again…CHANGE THE RECORD!!
@rick
I forgot to say I agree with pretty much everything u said there and it was probably the most boring boxing fight ever. Not just in the HW division. But he did what he needed to do to win a title and now hopefully we’ll see the old exciting haye.
@rick
haye has said himself he’s going to be more gung ho and go back to throwing more punches. The valeuv fight was tactics. Apart from ruslan chagaev, 50 odd other men had tried to beat valuev by throwing lots of punches and fair enough some were unfair points wins for valeuv, but they obviously didn’t look good enough. Haye on the other hand fought a clever tactical fight against a man 10 inches and 7stone heavier. He did what he had to do and he won.
Most of the boxing writers and critics said that the Valuev vs Haye fight was one of the most boring fights in HW history.
Haye looked terrified whenever Valuev even attempted to throw punches. Haye cannot be tentative when he fights the other top contenders. He will have to mix it and throw more punches. If Haye wants to clean up the division, he will have to fight more often and against tougher, younger fighters also.
This is all rubbish. First Thompson didn’t force haye to tire, David punched himself out looking for a big k.o. And second he broke his hand in the 2nd round of the valeuv fight, who would stand in front of a 7ft 20st giant and go toe to toe with one hand!? Haye fought the right tactics and he won good for him. He has the beating of most heavyweights but I don’t think he’s ready for the k brothers. He should beat ruiz and move on to a higher tier, fight arreola povektin then chagaev. All winnable. Then
move on to the brothers and HW supremacy.
this article is not objective one,Haye is muck faster and even stronger , sure he will the fight.
was that the same barrett who was knocked in in 1 round by a club fighter in his previous bout, it was a sloppy, match, with wide arching punches and lots of leaning forward your head forward and throwing off the wrong foot, and as big as valuev is he cant break an egg with his punch, so his fear of valuev tells me why he looked terrified whenever vitali is near—the same vitali that pushed him (haye did a comical dance) the same vitali who took his cowboy hat off his head and and held it up and plopped it back on like he was toying with a child, the same vitali that verbally berated and mocked him to his face—meanwhile haye turned curiously pale, quiet, and sad looking….
Scott didn’t you write the same diatribe about Haye yesterday and last Friday? What’s wrong with you? Do you have newspaper cuttings of Haye all over your house?
I wonder….Is this author too dum or too smart…
funny how all the haye comments are erased.
Shane would you stand straight in front of valuev????
Haye has the power to ktfo any human being to grace our world believe it.
Haye broke his hand and still nearly kod valuev.
Haye by knockout make no mistakes its gonna happen. Haye fought the perfect fight against Valuev and won. It might not of been exciting but it was effective in winning the belt. Come on Scott you dont fight a man whos got 6 stone on you on his terms thats madness. Haye maybe needs to stop with the mouth so much yeah I will give you that one.
I hope its a good fight!
Sorry, I don’t see Haye beating Ruiz in 3 on his best day and Ruiz’s worse day. Haye may utimately win, but Ruize was a champ twice, and he didn’t get there running circles around a giant and throwing pot shots. He stood up against the iant and fought him face to face. I don’t like fighters who run around and jump in and throw a pot shot here and there. Then again, i dont like fighters who can’t box but rely on the one big punch. I like fighters like the K Brothers who are technical fighters and can wear you down and then either go for a TKO or a KO.
Enjoy your limited time in the HW title world Haye, it won’t last long. You will have to fight someone good someday – and I can’t wait until i see you laying on your back on the canvas!
Haye worst fight happened to be his big fight give the guy a break Gilfoid
What a rubbish article! I especially love the bit about Haye “hardly sparkling against Barrett”!! Did you ever actually see that fight? Because i’m pretty sure the one i watched had about 5-6 knockdowns and was over by the fifth. Yeah….terribly dull that one!