By Scott Gilfoid: On April 3rd, World Boxing Association heavyweight champion David Haye (23-1, 21 KO’s) will be making his 1st defense of his WBA title against two-time WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz (44-8-1, 30 KO’s) at the M.E.N. Arena, Manchester, Lancashire. Haye, 29, will be fighting in front of a large British crowd and is expected to beat the 38-year-old Ruiz by a knockout. The reason many people are predicting a knockout win for Haye is that he has much more power, speed and youth compared to the relatively light hitting Ruiz, who has lost three out of his last six fights coming into their April 3rd fight.

But I wouldn’t be the least surprised if Ruiz taps Haye’s fragile chin and gets him out of there. For me, I see Haye’s chin as being like fine china. You got to be careful with it because it can break if you even tap it too hard with a teaspoon. Ruiz might not be a huge puncher, but in looking at the many times that Haye has visited the canvas during his seven year pro career, it doesn’t take a huge puncher to put him down. I think Ruiz is a bigger puncher than Carl Thompson, Jean Marc Mormeck, Monte Barrett and Lolenga Mock, fighters that have put Haye on the canvas during his career.

If Haye fights the same kind of timid, rabbit-like fight he did against Russian Nikolay Valuev in his last fight, then I can see Haye beating Ruiz by a close decision. Haye won’t dominate a fighter like Ruiz throwing only 10 punches per round, but I think Haye can win a controversial 12 round decision fighting in his home country. If Haye stays on the move the entire fight, there’s little chance that Ruiz will be able to find his brittle chin with a hard shot that would put Haye down.

But if Haye tries to turn the tables and stalk Ruiz with his hands down, like a poor imitation of Roy Jones Jr., then I see Ruiz landing something big and taking Haye out. Haye can’t afford to fight the same way he used to fight when he was beating up against smaller, more limited cruiserweights. Those fighters can’t punch as hard as heavyweights, and we already saw that Haye had problems taking even shots from small cruiserweights at times.

Haye has to adopt a turtle defense and protect his glass jaw with his gloves and arms as much as possible or else Ruiz could end the fight as soon as Haye tries to slug with him. Haye doesn’t really throw jabs and instead looks to throw big wild haymaker shots. Those wild punches are good against limited fighters, but Ruiz is a professional. If Haye throws that kind of amateurish shots, Ruiz will clean his clock in no time flat.
Haye moves poorly in terms of foot movement.

Haye doesn’t look good at all when moving laterally around the ring. All that muscle on his upper body makes Haye slow, almost like he has his feet stuck in glue. Haye’s hand speed may be good, but moves like he’s stuck in molasses around the ring. For Ruiz to catch Haye shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I still think Haye should try to move, because the more he does it, the better his chances are that he won’t get knocked out.

If Haye just stands and tries to trade with Ruiz for 12 rounds, I have little doubts that Ruiz will knock Haye out. Ruiz is much better skilled on the inside and has a nice right hand and uppercut that would level Haye once he catches him with it. Haye probably has about 20 to 30 pounds of too much muscle on his upper body for his good. If Haye took off that useless muscle, he’d move a lot better around the ring.

However, he would then be too small to fight as a heavyweight. But I think Haye is too small to fight at heavyweight. He beat an old, slow Valuev, but I think Haye would lose to a dozen of the top 15 fighters in the top 15. Frankly, I think Haye was a letter better fighter earlier in his career when he was a skinny cruiserweight. He was good back then, but after Haye started putting on a lot of muscle on his upper body, he’s become much slower and more lethargic looking. I think Haye’s chin has always been bad, though, whether he was skinny or over-muscled.