By Scott Gilfoid: Two-time World Boxing Association heavyweight champion John Ruiz (44-8-1, 30 KO’s) says in an article at Boxing News that WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (23-1, 21 KO’s) has had problems against fighters that pressure him and come forward. Ruiz, 38, may retire if he loses to the 29-year-old Haye in their April 3rd fight in Manchester, England, saying “I’ve got a chance to go out and give it everything I have, but if things go the opposite way and I don’t get the win against David Haye, then I think I’ll do something different with my life. It all depends on the outcome of the fight.”

Ruiz might want to reconsider retirement if he ends up losing by a decision, because he could lose a controversial decision. He wouldn’t be the first fighter that traveled to the UK and ended up getting a raw deal by the judges. Ruiz needs to consider that. He’s stepping into Haye’s turf and will be fighting in front of a packed house in Manchester. I think it’s going to be very hard for Ruiz to get the benefit of the doubt and win a decision over Haye in that place unless Ruiz knocks Haye down three or four times and really dominates.

Many boxing fans are already picking Haye to win by a knockout over Ruiz, despite the fact that Ruiz has only been knocked out once in his career 14 years ago against the powerful David Tua. If Haye wants to get Ruiz out of there, he’s going to have to fight much more aggressively than he showed against Monte Barrett and Nikolay Valuev.

Ruiz isn’t the type of fighter that is going to get bowled over with a single pot shot. Haye has to throw combinations to stop Ruiz, and if Haye does that, he’s going to have to take a chance that Ruiz might land one of his powerful uppercuts and take him out. Haye doesn’t have the best chin in the business and has been knocked down a number of times by smaller cruiserweights during his career. Ruiz might not be the biggest heavyweight in the division at 6’2” 227, but I’d be willing to bet that he hits hard enough to take Haye out if he can land something big enough on Haye’s fragile chin.

Ruiz doesn’t appear the least afraid of Haye, commenting “I’ve watched one of his [Haye] fights and that was against Valuev. But he’s [Haye] a fast guy and he’s going to do a lot of movement and give me a lot of angles but I look back through his history and I’m told the guys he had problems with were guys that pressure him and that’s my style.”

Indeed, Haye had big time problems against 40-year-old Carl Thompson in 2004. Thompson basically went right at Haye and had him looking tired after only two rounds. Haye was still throwing reasonably hard in the 3rd, but his legs were already gone by that point and he was just winging shots with his upper body and keeping his legs straight.

That’s what Ruiz needs to do. He needs to go after Haye hard in the first couple of rounds, take some of his shots and try to block as many possible, and then wear him down by the 4th or 5th round. Haye is much more of a mover than he was back then in 2004, but I suspect he’ll fight if he’s cornered. Ruiz needs to cut off the ring much better than the slow moving Valuev did in his fight with Haye.

I don’t think it will be a problem. Haye really doesn’t move that well. He looks like a body builder when he moves laterally, and is not light on his feet at all. Cutting off the ring against Haye should be child’s play. Once Ruiz has Haye cornered, he just needs to throw down and force Haye into a dog fight. I highly doubt that Haye’s chin will hold up under a strong exchange from Ruiz without betraying him. This fight could very early if Ruiz catches Haye and lands a halfway decent shot on his glass chin.

The thing that Ruiz has going for him is that this fight will be held in front of a large audience in the UK. I expect the crowd noise will make Haye brave and cause him to go out swinging wildly in an amateurish way. That kind of thing may have worked against the cruiserweight fodder that Haye fought earlier in his career, but against a skilled heavyweight like Ruiz, he’ll be like a club fighter against a professional.