Ruiz the lionheart downed by King David
As David Haye strutted his way to the ring, taking a moment to pause and milk the crowd’s adulation he looked every inch the champion of the world.
With all the Union Jacks and cheering crowds it was like a coronation of the new ruler of the heavyweights. King David’s cocksure arrival raised expectations higher still as he posed, bounced and showboated his way past his adoring public, where a 38-year old plodder waited for him hoping to derail the celebrations.
It was never going to be simple, John Ruiz is not a man who goes down often, just one KO his whole career and if there is one thing “The Quietman” can virtually guarantee it’s that he will last the distance. So imagine everyone’s surprise when the American was flat on his back after 25 seconds. Haye clearly had David Tua’s 19-second demolition on his mind as he sprinted out of the corner and dropped Ruiz immediately with a powerful right.
We then got a demonstration as to why Ruiz has remained a fixture among the big guns; the man has the heart of a warrior. His legs had gone after that first knock down, most other fighters would have quit but Ruiz somehow just kept coming forward. Ruiz has a bizarre meandering style, like a demented drunk wobbling from side-to-side with enhanced determination, as if he had just seen a fiver on the floor of a packed pub.
Haye was relentless in his pursuit and sensed blood, unleashing wave after wave of attacks. As the round closed out Ruiz started to rejuvenate and survived another barrage as Haye threw the first of a number of rabbit punches and was rightfully deducted two points.
As Ruiz resurrected Haye surprisingly began standing back and working the jab. This seemed an odd tactic, against Nicolay Valuev, Haye was accused of being overly cautious and there was an air about that again as he seemed reluctant to throw haymakers and combinations. Ruiz began closing down the ring and doing what he does best, taking punches nonchalantly with his jaw of steel. Perhaps Haye had his 2004 defeat to Carl Thompson on his mind but he was very reluctant to get drawn into anything and tried to conserve energy, which allowed Ruiz back into things.
The Quietman dusted himself off and started to put in a shift against the champion, he may have picked up a couple of the rounds as Haye continued to sit back. Although “The Hayemaker” always looked in control he was throwing a few wild punches and his combinations were lacking a bit of rhythm and finesse, at times the WBA titleholder looked a bit sloppy.
Haye’s dominance began to pay off in the fifth and sixth rounds which saw Ruiz have to take a knee. Firstly Haye hit him with a right just as the bell sounded, although nobody seemed to hear it in the fracas. It was a solid right by Haye, leaving the former champion in distress, just in the nick of time as Ruiz was threatening to haul himself back into the fight, it would quite frankly have been like something out of a Rocky film had the American got something from this bout.
It was in the sixth round when Haye started to sense the end was in sight. This time it was a messy combination which sent a bloodied Ruiz down to his knee. Ruiz motioned to the ref claiming another rabbit punch but it looked like an act of desperation by the big hearted fighter. He must have been feeling every one of his 38 years as he wearily pulled himself up again and to Haye’s and everyone else’s astonishment he fought on.
By the seventh round Haye’s mouth was open and his cocky smile had been wiped away by a look of concern, it couldn’t be Thompson again could it? The British champ knew he had the beating of Ruiz but the way things were going he could be set to punch himself out once again. Ruiz was a machine, his bones and muscles have clearly been replaced by concrete and no matter how hard Haye hit him he kept coming back.
However realistically it was just a matter of time until the durable Ruiz had to call it a day and that moment came at the beginning of the ninth, following a gruelling eighth round. Ruiz corner threw in the towel much to Haye’s relief, bringing an end to a tough fight.
Although it was comprehensive and one-sided, there was a risk that Haye could have exhausted himself on the human punch bag and the way Ruiz relentlessly came forward the later rounds would have been very unforgiving for the champion. Ruiz fought like a warrior but Haye gave everything as well, throwing punches as hard and as fast as he could and moving about the ring with the speed of a cheetah, quite frankly he looked shattered by the end.
Haye’s combinations had become slapdash as the fight continued and he was hardly moving his head near the end as Ruiz chanced a few jabs. Had Ruiz been 10 years younger he may have caused a genuine problem for the British pugilist, however on the night Haye was fitter, younger, faster and more powerful. He would have learnt a lot from the experience and it was without doubt his toughest fight at heavyweight yet.
Up next it has to be either of the Klitschko's, preferably Vitali. Haye needs to work on keeping his composure and landing cleaner punches. He moves like a middleweight and has to be one of the most nimble 200+lbs fighters since Muhammad Ali. If he can just make his overall game 15% tighter he will be unstoppable in the current division.
It was fantastic to have another heavyweight world title fight in the UK and great to have a British champion still in the throne. Ruiz was a worthy opponent but now Haye must move on to bigger things if he wants to leave a legacy.
He may be the King but there is still plenty more places to conquer.
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