looking at haye vs ruiz

depending on which media outlet you lend most credence to, david haye's first title defence will be a breeze, a bloody war, or anything in between. haye, who is increasingly becoming a one-man advertising agency for his fights, has admitted that he expects to 'take a few', and that the fight will be far tougher than last year's bout with nikolai valuev; a contest in which he was never really rocked, and used his size (dis)advantage to outmanoeuvre and outbox the giant russian.

ruiz will, in my opinion, prove a more difficult opponent. we all know that haye's chin is not comparable to that of, say, vitali klitschko (more about him later), but for the most part that can be overcome, provided that haye possesses the stamina to go the distance. you might think that the valuev fight proved that he can stick and move for the full 36 minutes, but ruiz will throw more than valuev, and over a 54-fight career has developed a far more accurate set of weapons than the russian. i doubt that haye can sustain the pace we saw last november when you factor in the shots that ruiz will be hoping to land.

which leads me to my conclusion that haye will look for an early knockout, possibly inside the 5th round. throughout his career ruiz has shown that if his opponents stay close, he has the ability to draw them into an ugly slugfest, a talent which won him 2 world titles. the balance that haye has to find lies between speed and consistent striking. ruiz is unlikely to be taken out with one punch- haye needs to come out fast and wear him down.

all the talk surrounding david haye is concerned with him saving the ailing heavyweight division, and a pair of mega-fights with the klitchsko brothers, who are perceived in the english-speaking boxing community as everything that is wrong with the sport in the 21st century. make no mistake, they'd like to prove haye, and his fans, wrong. for their part, haye and his training/business guru adam booth can see the light at the end of the tunnel, with retirement coming within 3 years- a retirement made possible by a lucrative pair of unifying title wins against the ukrainians.

it's a great plan, and it sounds simple enough when you write it down. but it could all come crashing down if haye falters tomorrow. he shouldn't, he probably won't, but he needs to be aware of the possibility. ruiz might be drawing towards the end of his time in the ring, but he has far less to lose than haye, and he knows it.