Does Ruiz win respect if he KOs Haye?

By William Mackay: There are a fair amount of boxing fans that don’t particularly care for former two-time WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz (44-8-1, 30 KO’s) as a fighter. Many of those fans don’t like Ruiz’s old style of fighting in which he would clinch and wrestle a great deal in his fights.

It may not have been a crowd-pleasing style of fighting, but it worked well for Ruiz, allowing him to win two world titles, beat fighters like Hasim Rahman, Fres Oquendo, Evander Holyfield, Kirk Johnson, Andre Golota, Tony Tucker and Jameel McCline.

That’s an impressive list of wins that Ruiz has piled up during his 18-year pro career. Ruiz has a made a lot of money, and still is fighting at a very high level despite his advanced age. On April 3rd, Ruiz will be challenging for the World Boxing Association heavyweight title against title holder David Haye at the M.E.N. Arena, Manchester, Lancashire.

Few people are giving Ruiz much of a chance to score an upset over the younger 29-year-old Haye. However, if Ruiz does end up stopping Haye, one has to wonder whether Ruiz will finally start winning some begrudging respect from boxing fans for his accomplishments in the ring. If Ruiz is going to win, it will likely be by knockout rather than decision, because Haye has a weak chin and he leaves himself open often when he throws his big haymaker shots that he tends to throw in his fights.

Haye fought mostly under control in winning the WBA title against 7-foot Nikolay Valuev last November, only occasionally throwing a big right hand. However, Haye injured his right hand early in the fight after connecting with a big right to the top of Valuev’s head, and was forced to fight the remainder of the way only throwing sporadic right hands.

Against the 6’2” Ruiz, Haye will have someone that he’ll likely feel comfortable enough to open up with his big power shots. Haye hasn’t any heavyweights other than Valuev that could be considered quality fighters, and has been able to get away with throwing his looping shots. Ruiz, though, is a professional and he could take advantage of Haye’s somewhat amateurish style of fighting and clip him with some big shots.

Ruiz can punch a lot harder than many people give him credit for, as he has a powerful uppercut that he likes to throw when in close. If Haye makes the mistake of opening up his offense with both guns blazing, Ruiz is going to be able to get his shots in and test Haye’s weak chin. Haye may have been a fast cruiserweight, but he looks much slower at heavyweight, and gets hit now way more than he used to.

Against Valuev, Haye moved continuously and never gave the big Russian much of a chance to land that often. However, that’s not a style that Haye can win fights with. He doesn’t move well enough while circling the ring, and doesn’t throw enough punches while on the move.

Haye beat Valuev by a narrow decision, but it’s not a style that Haye will be able to beat better heavyweights with. For Haye to find success against Ruiz or the other better heavyweights in the division, Haye is going to have to use the power that brought him to this level and see if he can succeed against the bigger heavyweights.

It may be that Haye’s power isn’t big enough for him to beat the better heavyweights than Valuev, but he’s going to have to find that out by testing himself. I think Ruiz could end up beating Haye whether the British heavyweight runs all night long like he did against Valuev or if he stands and trades shot. Ruiz could take Haye out if David opts to trade shots.

That would be a big win for Ruiz, and breathe new life into his boxing career. I can see some fans finally showing Ruiz respect, especially if he really goes after Haye and causes him to run for his life like he did against Valuev. Haye can’t run from another heavyweight without looking bad. He had an excuse in his last fight because of his hand injury and the size of Valuev, that won’t be the case against the 6’2” 38-year-old Ruiz. There can’t be any excuses for not standing and trading this time.

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