Booth says Haye is going to try and hurt Ruiz early
March 18th, 2010
By Scott Gilfoid: Adam Booth, the trainer of World Boxing Association heavyweight champion David Haye (23-1, 21 KO’s) says in an article at Sky Sports that his fighter Haye is going to go after two-time heavyweight champion John Ruiz (44-8-1, 30 KO’s) early in their fight on April 3rd to try and “get respect.” Booth says “And if you run, the less power you’ve got in your shots. With Ruiz, you have to bang hard and bang for 12 rounds so we know it’s not a question of running from Ruiz. It’s a question of getting his respect and hurting him early, and dominating the fight from the center of the ring.” That sounds good in theory, but it might not be all that practical for Haye to try and carry out this game plan.
However, Ruiz landed some big shots of his own during those first couple of rounds, and I’m not sure that Haye could have taken the shots that Jones took from Ruiz back in 2003. I think if Booth has Haye coming out slugging in the first two rounds, it’s going to backfire on Haye and Booth with Ruiz landing something big and stretching Haye for the count.
Haye doesn’t seem to have the same power at heavyweight that he had at cruiserweight, and his hand speed isn’t anything special either since packing on nearly 20 pounds of useless muscle. Haye’s chin isn’t good, and if he gets hit with anything from Ruiz, I think Haye won’t survive. Ruiz isn’t considered a big puncher, but he has pretty good power, especially if he can get to you.
He’s very good at landing his shots and keeping his opponents from getting their own punches in. Ruiz is especially good at fighting at close range where he is dangerous with his body shots and uppercuts. Haye is more of a pot shot fighter who does his best work from the outside.
At close range, Haye looks very uncomfortable, like a big fish out of water. Haye doesn’t like to get hit and generally runs for the hills at the first signs of danger. However, there won’t be any place for Haye to run to because Ruiz has better foot speed than Haye, and is extremely good at cutting off the ring on his opponents.
Look at any of Ruiz’s fights and you’ll see what I’m talking about. He’s not a big heavyweight at 6’2” 227, and is very fast on his feet. If Haye tries to run from Ruiz like he did in his last fight against Nikolay Valuev, I can see Ruiz quickly closing the distance and forcing Haye to fight whether he likes it or not.
Booth says “David is a natural fighter, he loves getting in there close and trading blows.” I don’t agree with that assessment of Haye at all. Haye never gets in close with his opponents unless he can stun them first with a pot shot. If he has an opponent hurt, then Haye gets brave and goes after them with power shots. But Haye always works from the outside with his pot shots.
If you block his shots or get out of the way of them, he’s harmless. Haye is also harmless at close range. And his power, like I said, isn’t comparable to the big punching heavyweights like the Klitschko brothers and Samuel Peter. Ruiz is going to find out very quickly that Haye’s shots aren’t that big of a deal and once that happens, you can look for Haye to have a lot of problems with Ruiz.
Tags: 16 Responses to “Booth says Haye is going to try and hurt Ruiz early”
Leave a Reply
please use above banner to link back to us!
Haye hits hard for any weight class and ruiz is going to get a mauling. I don’t see this going the distance
Ruiz doesn’t have better foot or hand sprrd than Haye. Scott you don’t know what you’re talking about
Cant see this fight goin 4 easy first defence 4 haye methinks
What a load of rubbish from Gilfoid.
Haye is going to stop Ruiz for sure and then we’ll see who’s no good as a heavyweight!
didnt you say the same thing when he was going to fight valuev
Haye has lost power ? Back that statement up! He destroyed Barrett. I know Vlad did too, but he’s the bigger guy and Barrett is a journeyman. Also Haye rocked Valuev, and correct me if i’m wrong, but not many have done that. To summerise, Haye hasn’t fought many times at heavyweight and people give him a hard time becaus he has a big mouth, but I think he will get better and shut the knockers up.
@Pete….Hey Pete I just don’t think he’s gonna be any kind of a force in the heavyweight division, there are too many guys that I think can and will take him out, not to say he couldn’t cause some interest up the road, but that will be about it for him. He has caused quite a stir with his childish antics, this is a pro sport, big mouth and limited strengths …….I would like to see him and James Toney go at it with they’re mouths and then fight….that may stir up some interest.
I think Scott is a little biased in his writing. While I think Ruiz is no walk over for Haye, I think the Ruiz of 2010 is far slower than the Ruiz of 2003. In his last fight, Ruiz struggled to impose himself on a boxer who was knocked out in 5 rounds by the notoriously methodical Tony Thompson and who retired after 3 against Danny Williams a few years back. And, while Haye’s chin is questionable (we await to see how he deals with a genuinely powerful HW), I don’t think anyone can question his power (as Scott does!). Monte was interviewed about Haye before the Valuev fight and said, of his power: “He’s not heavy-handed, he just has a lot of pop in his punch. When he hit me it reminded me of Wladimir Klitschko. He has deceptive speed about his power and Klitschko has the same type of power in his punches.” Now I think I’d rather trust the opinion of a guy who’s been on the receiving end of both men’s punches over yours…
patpump –
I guess we will see what level fighter he is over the coming year. What you mean is in your opinion he is a b-level heavyweight right? Because he has not proved himself in your eyes yet. Or are you just going to write him off without giving him a chance?
Ruiz is way past his prime that’s if he ever had one. Haye is a joke and will only make Berto type defenses. He should be fighting Tua, Arreola, or Adzemk or what ever his name is. maybe even Toney but Ruiz come on.
Haye is all mouth. All this BS talk and he can’t back it up. I would sure hope he would try to hurt Ruiz. Especially after all that talk about being like Mike Tyson and bringing back excitement.
@Pete & Ohio….You guys must really like Haye, thats OK. Boys he just isn’t that good as a heavyweight you will see. I’m not saying Ruiz is much better, but he is a little better than Haye. Your boy is going to fall apart against Ruiz. That would be better than getting crunched by Arreola or Solis, he would have a good a chance in a cage with a circus lion as to step up to the Klitchko’s……Yes Boys he’s a B level fighter.
Patpump – you know nothing. Haye is probably one of the best moving heavyweights in the division. Gilford know’s jack abouthe heavyweight division and he only ever writes articles Dishing UK boxers. Fact is I’m American and we haven’t had a good heavyweight boxer for almost 10 years! Haye has more power behind his punch than most heavyweights apart from maybe the Klitchko’s. And he is much quicker than both of them.
@ patpump
What are you talking about? You say… “he is clumsy looking as he moves around the ring, that is why he has had apparent fatigue problems” – Rubbish. Haye has punched himself out once, early in his career. He went 12 rounds with Valuev no problems. And clumsy? Compared with who?
“Ruiz has face much better fighters than Haye and come out on top” – Who exactly has Ruiz beaten better then Haye? Rahman? That was 7 years ago. Holyfield? That was 10 years ago. Ruiz has got zero chance of doing anything to Haye.
“It’s just a fight between two B level fighters” – Yeah right, Haye unified a division then moved up to heavyweight and won the title. But he is only a B-level fighter? Don’t give up your day job because you know zip about boxing.
patpump, you are right! I see it the same way.
I think that Ruiz is going to give Haye some rude treatment. Haye has has power with wild wide punches, he is clumsy looking as he moves around the ring, that is why he has had apparent fatigue problems. I won’t say that he has a glass jaw because he really hasn’t been tested by a big hitter. Ruiz is not a huge puncher but he wears people down and has done it alot of times. Ruiz has face much better fighters than Haye and come out on top. I think the only thing that may be interesting in this fight is Haye’s stupidity and childish rants. As far as the big wide world go’s this isn’t a very important fight, either one is in no way a threat to some of the better heavyweights and would be punching bags for either Klitchko brother. I see Ruiz roughing up Haye for 12 rounds and winning a decision. It’s just a fight between two B level fighters.