Haye vs. Ruiz: Will the Quiet man expose Haye’s chin problem?

By William Mackay: World Boxing Association heavyweight champion David Haye (23-1, 21 KO’s) will be making his first defense of his WBA title on April 3rd against two-time heavyweight champion John Ruiz (44-8-1, 30 KO’s) on April 3rd, at the M.E.N. Arena, Manchester, Lancashire. Haye, 29, is saying he’s going to be more aggressive in this fight than he was in winning the WBA title over 7-foot 320 pound Russian Nikolay Valuev last November. Haye won that fight by a 12 round majority decision but failed to impress with his constant movement, timid style of fighting and low punch output.

Haye says he had to fight this way because of an injury he sustained early in the fight, and also because of the clubbing power that Valuev can sometimes muster up. This time, however, Haye, barring another unpredictable injury, should have no problems with letting his hands go. Ruiz, 6’2” 227, doesn’t have the size of Valuev or any of the other big heavyweights like the Klitschko brothers. In fact, Haye, a former cruiserweight champion at one time in his career, will have a small height advantage of one inch and will only be out-weighed by little more than 10 pounds unless Haye comes in higher than the 217 that he fought at for his last fight against Valuev.

However, if Haye does decide to be more offensively minded against Ruiz, it will open up the chance that Ruiz could land a big shot and put Haye down for the count. Haye is noted for having a weak chin while fighting as a cruiserweight. Indeed, Haye has visited the canvas against the likes of Lolenga Mock, Carl Thompson, Jean Marc Mormeck and depending on whether you believe that Haye’s knockdown against Monte Barrett was a slip or not, in the Barrett fight.

As you can see, it doesn’t take a big puncher to put Haye down. Ruiz hits as hard as any of the cruiserweights I listed, and I think he hits harder than Barrett. If Haye wants to become a popular heavyweight on the world scene, he’s going to have to look more impressive than he did in the Valuev and Barrett fights. Haye looked totally unlike the fast, brilliant fighter that some people have been saying about him.

He’s got to do better than that if wants to make people take notice of him. The 38-year-old Ruiz would seem to be the perfect opponent for Haye to shine against. However, Haye has to be able to take a good shot from Ruiz for him to put on his offensive display, and I’m not so certain he can. I also have doubts that Haye will even take a chance of possibly getting his chin tapped by Ruiz by being more aggressive on offense.

My guess is Haye will fight the exact same way he did against Valuev, circling the ring, throwing pot shots every now and then and looking very cautious. It’s going to probably be a boring fight, because with Haye treating Ruiz as if he’s a loaded bomb, there won’t be much action to speak of other than the exchanges that Ruiz seeks out. I’m not sure what Haye’s excuse will be this time for not throwing more punches, but I imagine he’ll think of something.

Hopefully, it won’t be another injury. Haye’s had too many injuries lately, with his back going out on him suddenly weeks before his bout against IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, which caused the cancellation of that bout, and then his hand injury against Valuev that led to Haye looking very timid.

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