By Scott Gilfoid: WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (23-1, 21 KO’s) will have another opponent that does his talking in the ring instead of outside of it when Haye faces former two-time World Boxing Association heavyweight champion John Ruiz (44-8-1, 30 KO’s) on April 3rd, at the M.E.N. Arena, Manchester, Lancashire. Haye, 29, has mixed emotions about facing the “Quiet Man,” saying in an article at ESPN.co, “Ruiz is a dull guy and perhaps so boring even I won’t be able to trash talk him. He has no personality and that is reflected in his marketability. Nobody wants him. He [Ruiz] is a two-time world heavyweight champion that nobody wants to fight.”

What Haye fails to see is that then boxing public might have a different perception about Ruiz if he had won most of his fights during his career. However, Ruiz has suffered timely losses to David Tua, Roy Jones Jr. Ruslan Chagaev and two losses to Nikolay Valuev that have soured the boxing public’s perception of him. Ruiz also hasn’t helped himself during this time by using a wrestling, punch and grab fighting style that some boxing fans find hard to watch.

However, Haye could find himself as an unpopular fighter unless he improves on the dull fighting style that he used in his fight against Valuev. Haye ran for the full 12 rounds, averaging only 10 punches thrown per round. Even in Ruiz’s most boring fights, he threw more punches than that per round. Haye also didn’t exactly sparkle against the 38-year-old Monte Barrett in November 2008. Those two fights are the extent of Haye’s heavyweight experience unless you want to count his fight against the obscure Tomasz Bonin as heavyweight experience.

Barrett is a 2nd tier heavyweight. You can basically only count Haye’s fight against the aging, slow moving Valuev as experience against a top tier fighter, and that fight win is made less impressive given Valuev’s very questionable win over the 46-year-old Evander Holyfield only 11 months earlier in December 2008. Valuev didn’t fight anyone after the Holyfield fight, and it’s a good thing, because chances are he might have lost if it was a against a top tier fighter.

Haye says “But he [Ruiz] will be good for me. I can be more gung-ho against him. I can do my usual stuff and it will come off.” Haye appears to be saying that he plans on letting his hands go more and throwing more power shots against Ruiz than he did in his fight against Valuev. Let’s hope so. Haye needs to look good against Ruiz if he wants to ensure that a future fight against World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko or light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins turn out to be mega fights.

The boxing public in the United States might not get too excited about seeing a Haye-Klitschko or Haye-Hopkins fight if Haye turns in another disappointing performance. As of now, Haye’s recent performances in the ring haven’t matched his bold talk out of the ring. Haye looks nothing like the way he talks, and he doesn’t seem like the same fighter he once was while fighting smaller cruiserweights.

Ruiz says in an article at Primera Hora “I’ve never felt so calm and comfortable. I have a new trainer, a new promoter [Golden Boy Promotions] and another chance to become world champion. My style is perfect to beat Haye. I have to be aggressive. I’ve studied him a little and I know how to beat Haye.” The way to beat Haye is how 40-year-old Carl Thompson beat him in a 5th round TKO in 2004.

Thompson continuously came forward looking to land hard shots during the fight. Haye was forced to fight and quickly tired himself out and was dropped twice. Ruiz could do the same thing. Haye won’t be able to get away from Ruiz like he did against Valuev, because Ruiz is much quicker on his feet and cuts off the ring a lot better than the slow 7-foot 320 pound Valuev.