By Ronnie Jordan: David Haye is the former undisputed cruiserweight champion and now World Boxing Association heavyweight champion, with his good looks, gift of the gab, and with his mean punching speed and power he has lit up the boxing scene like no one else. He’s made no secret of his ambitions to fight both Klitschko brothers and is now one victory away from realizing his dreams.

Standing in front of him is a tricky costumer in two-time former heavyweight champion John Ruiz. A veteran at heavyweight he undoubtedly has numerous advantages over Haye. First of all his experience at heavyweight is second to none. He’s faced all kinds of opponents from the lightning fast Roy Jones Jr. to the hard hitting Andrew Golota and the slick and talented James Toney.

Ruiz has fought some huge heavy punching monsters and certainly won’t be overly anxious about the prospect of facing former cruiser weight David Haye. Second advantage is Ruiz’s chin. He’s only been knocked out once in his career. That being the time he was caught cold by David Tua in the first round which is possible for any fighter. Compare that to Haye who has had notable problems with his chin in the past. Also, Ruiz’s ability to make good fighters look poor. His nullifying style although uneasy on the eye is affective never the less. He’s able to win against a quality Haye hasn’t shown.

However, what John Ruiz and a lot of Haye doubters may be ignoring is Hayes will to win and drive to reach the very top. Never mind his athleticism, agility, speed and power. Haye wants this Klitschko showdown more than anything. He’s been dreaming of this his whole career. Gone is his tendency to try and blow fighters out in 1 round and becoming tired later on. Gone are his play boy antics and youthful naivety in and out of the ring. Haye is now a mature measured man and measured fighter. With his one and only goal, to become the undisputed unified heavyweight champion of the world.

Ruiz hasn’t beaten an opponent with Haye’s speed and power who is still in his prime. The two fast skillful fighters he faced Roy Jones and Toney beat him comfortably, if not easily. Haye will be able to test Ruiz’s chin with relative ease and Ruiz’s chance depends on whether he can take them shots. Haye hits with real pop. According to Monte Barrett, Haye has similar power as Wladimir Klitschko and don’t for one second think Haye will throw just 10 punches per round like Scott Gilfoid recently stated.

Don’t just look at his last fight and think that’s how this man fights. Haye is like a lion in the ring and has all the physical advantages over Ruiz to allow him to resort to his usual aggressive fighting style. There’s a good chance Haye will win on points, but if Haye can keep catching him plum on the chin Ruiz could fall at any moment.

Looking beyond this fight is the exciting prospect of Haye vs. Klitschko, either one would do for Haye but personally I’d prefer Wladimir over Vitali. That extra 2 or 3 inches height and reach that Vitali has may be the difference between winning and losing. Plus, Vitali has proven he has probably the best chin in boxing. Wladimir, however, doesn’t have that granite chin to protect him. And at 6f 6″, is only three inches taller than Haye.

With Haye’s unbelievable athleticism and cat like reflexes, he will be able to avoid Klitschko’s jab and right hand and counter with his own shots. Wlad’s last few fights have been against small fighters with no head movement and predictable fighting styles. In his last bout against Chambers, there was almost no head movement at all.

Instead, he preferred to hide behind his gloves, maybe hoping when he opens them Wladimir might have got bored and gone home. But he didn’t. Instead, he jabbed the hell out of Chambers for 11 rounds 2 minutes and 50 seconds and finally threw a left hook with venom and knocked Chambers out in the 12th round. What I did notice, however, was when Chambers ducked and weaved for about 20 seconds one round, he made Klitschko miss and for a few brief moments Wladimir left himself open.

All it would take is Wladimir slightly off balance and Haye to throw a monstrous hook similar to the one that nearly ko’d Valuev, and it would be enough to begin a new era in heavyweight boxing. one where we can look forward to exciting fights with heavyweight willing to put everything on the line. A heavyweight with similar height weight and reach to his opponents. and a heavyweight people outside Germany actually want to pay money to see.