Haye: “I’ve got to either stop or absolutely batter Ruiz to a pulp” – News
March 4th, 2010
By Scott Gilfoid: World Boxing Association heavyweight champion David Haye (23-1, 21 KO’s) is determined to put in an impressive performance in his first defense of his WBA title belt on April 3rd, against two-time heavyweight champion John Ruiz (44-8-1, 30 KO’s) at the M.E.N. Arena, Manchester, Lancashire. The 29-year-old Haye won the WBA belt in November with a 12 round majority decision over champion Nikolay Valuev in Germany. Haye did just enough to squeak by with the decision in a safety first fight that Haye threw very power punches in.
Haye doesn’t appear to be that powerful at heavyweight, and his hand speed is much slower than it used to be. Haye isn’t even among the fastest heavyweights in the division despite all the hoopla made about him in the past. Haye was fast at cruiserweight, but at heavyweight he’s slowed way down and his shots aren’t blazing fast like a Mike Tyson or Wladimir Klitschko.
So far, Haye has only fought three times at heavyweight beating 2nd tier heavyweights Tomaz Bonin and Monte Barrett, and then beating Valuev by a narrow, some would say questionable, decision last year. Haye threw only around 10 punches per round and only one punch at a time.
If Haye had thrown combinations he would have left himself open to getting clubbed by Valuev, which is why Haye probably opted for the safe approach by throwing one punch at a time. Nothing much is different for this fight. Although Haye has started out saying that he’s going to beat Ruiz to a pulp, this is exactly what he did before the Valuev fight, and what we got was a timid looking fight instead from Haye. I expect to see the same cautious one punch at a time performance from Haye against Ruiz.
Haye says “He’s [Ruiz] a lot more durable than people give him credit for. He’s also got a new trainer, so he should be as fresh as he has always been. He’s a seasoned campaigner and I’m looking to deal with John Ruiz the way Lennox Lewis would have.” I don’t see the comparison here that Haye is trying to make. He’s nothing like Lennox Lewis in his fighting style.
Lewis was huge at 6’5” with long arms, whereas Haye is listed at 6’3”, but looks to be only 6’2” with much shorter arms than Lewis. If I was to compare Haye to any heavyweight it would be Oliver McCall. Haye reminds me a lot of McCall with his style of fighting, his tendency to rely on his right hand a lot. He’s no Lewis or Mike Tyson that’s for sure.
“I can’t have a bad night because people will say maybe the Valuev win wasn’t that good,” Haye says. “I need to keep the momentum going so people know I’m the true world heavyweight champion.”
I seriously doubt many people will ever consider Haye to be the true world champion. Maybe if the Klitschko brothers weren’t around and Haye actually fought some good heavyweights instead of a pile of carefully selected heavyweight opponents like the ones he has fought.
If Haye turns things around after the Ruiz fight and takes on the Klitschko brothers and beats them, people will of course see him as the true heavyweight champion. But for now, all they have to go by is Haye’s wins over Bonin, Barrett and Valuev. That’s pretty competition if you ask me, and Ruiz doesn’t help things any. Haye needs to fight the Klitschko brothers, beat them and then defeat the likes of Alexander Povetkin, Denis Boystsov, Chris Arreola and Odlanier Solis before he’s considered the true heavyweight world champion.
The problem is I don’t think Haye can beat any of those guys. I see them all knocking him into the stratosphere if given the chance. I think Haye is good at beating 2nd tier heavyweights, but I believe most of the top 15 will plant him on the canvas.
Tags: 17 Responses to “Haye: “I’ve got to either stop or absolutely batter Ruiz to a pulp” – News”
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I hope all you Haye supporters are on this site after Haye gets beat by Ruiz. I’m gonna have to tell everyone…”told you so”……Haye just isn’t that good.
there was no broken hand…he never wore a cast…did you fail to notice that…if you have a broken hand, you wear a cast afterward…for weeks afterward….haye was spouting his usual tripe….but then most of you would believe him if he said he could fly…haye is the kind of guy who claims he can walk on water rather than admit he cant swim…get over him, develop another crush
by the way the guy who wants to be haye’s tail, you can be exciting by sliding and hitting, but you have to punch to do it, haye was moving, but too scared to throw many punches, besides he has to stop to throw, he is not gifting enough to punch and move at the same time…add that to poor stamina and a weak chin…therefore he fought the way he did against the light-hitting giant….holyfield is no bigger than haye and he looked better against the giant, even at 47..
haye’s fights are back and forth because he isnt that good…he gets hit, he gets staggered, then he strikes, but isnt powerful enough to put the opponant down right away, yes, porous defense and decent power (not great by any means) make for good fights. good defense or great power make for either boring or quick fights. but haye cant afford to be exciting at heavyweight—poor defense and a weak chin prevent it (add a lack of stamina) therefore he runs, ducks, pretends to injure a hand, back or leg…as soon as haye gets through fighting the senior heavyweights, 2 yrs now, nobody under 35 in the ring with him or on the horizon, ruiz next, chageav, then valuev again….yeh, hes exciting, just not at heavyweight….
Plumb LBW and tails. Thats setteled about the beer, I go to the UK frequently, awsome beer and more awsome people, I hope us in the States are as kind and holspitable. I have to stick to my guns about Haye though, he isn’t that good and he certianly isn’t funny like Naz. You guys over there are showing up with some really good talent, British boxing as well as European boxing is starting to dominate, that’s ok we had our day now we eat too many pizzas and chase women in bikini’s up and down our sunny beaches. You guys are great, your country is great, Haye is not great.
@Patpump,
True about that American beer my friend
) If you get imported beer over there try a Belgian one called Duvel. Awesome man. I’ve always been a Guinness man until I recently found Duvel. At 8.5% it’s surprisingly nice to drink, but gets you completely wasted.
Regarding the boxing you are winding us up with the Holyfield and Arreola references right? Holyfield was awesome in his prime, but come man he’s shot. Arreola has the potential to be good, err sorry better, but until he stops guzzling cheeseburgers for breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight snack he’s never gonna beat the best. Haye would smash him.
Sorry tails, Haye did generate some excitement as a cruiserweight, so I do stand corrected….However this is all together different trying to match him against the Klitchko’s. You must admit he has generated most of his excitement by using his mouth and not his skills, didn’t he say he was going to knock Valuev out, look at that fight again, he didn’t outbox anyone. He can’t and wont beat guys like Solis, Arreola, Ruiz, Hollyfield, not to mention the Klitchko’s………You owe me a couple of pints and some fish and chips when he gets beat by Ruiz. If he wins you get a pizza and some American beer, which however is not nearly as good as your beer…
@ g……watch the ruiz valuev fights and see if u think ruiz did moe to earn that title than haye ever did.i for one think that ruiz and holyfield done a hell of a lot more than haye did….as one person has wrote b4 hes a paper champ and needs 2 start fightin sum top heavyweights and not guys who r done
Don’t comment on his articles…
to patpump. You say Haye has put on dull performances when he has fought. What a load of bull. Have you actually seen any of Haye’ fights? It was a boring fight against Valuev but he did what he needed to get the win. He was never going to win by trying to out muscle Valuev, he stuck and moved. All of Haye’ other fights have been some of the most exciting and explosive I have seen. Haye will ko Ruiz.
Please stop commenting on his articles – it’s the only thing that keeps him going.
To say that he needs to steo up and fight better fighters is ridiculous as he has only fought three times at the weight and has already fought and defeted a champion in Valuev. Now he is fighting the mandatoy challenger in only his forth fight. What more can he do? I think your writing is pittyful and your constant nagative articles are loathesome. Do you have anything good to say about anybody? Haye’s chin is questionable for sure, but he outboxed Valuev with a bad hand and rocked him in the final round, which, by the way nobody has done before. To say that he is slow is laughable. Haye is damn fast for a heavyweight and when he gets in with either of the Klitchko’s they will know about it. Whether he wins or not is a different matter, but that’s what makes him generally an exciting fighter, it could go either way. My money is on haye for an early ko of Ruiz. It will be interesting to see what you say about that….My guess is you will say Ruiz was ovr the hill and Haye needs to fight someone better. Which of course you are not saying now, but we all know when you get it wrong you change your tune rather than admitting you were wrong. You talk about the likes of Tyson who is the most over rated heavyweight of all time fighters many no hopers and when it came to fighting tough opposition he was shown up for what he was; a big fish in a small pond. The USA heavyweight seen has been on the decline for many years and it was only when the eastern countries started getting involoved that we realised it. Not that the Brit heavyweight seen has ever been any good either, but nobody said it was did they…
Scott Gilfraud how many articles do you need to write about Haye and Ruiz?? You are beginning to sound like a stuck record talking complete nosense and writing embaressingly biased articles. Scott surely it is time for you to go and get a proper job and do something that you are good at, if that is at all possible.
Ruiz is over the hill but he is still much better than Haye. Ruiz has been in some tough fights with good people. Haye has faked injuries, backed out of fights and put on dull performances when he actually did fight
haye is fast and powerful but either klitschko will destroy him fact
Ruiz is a finshed fighter who never was a fighter ,sparring partner maybe………wouldnt it be nice if Knocks whats his face OUT
*and when I say proven I mean as proven as any in the current field.