Silence of the Quietman
With his blank stare, stout figure and monosyllabic voice John Ruiz doesn’t exactly exude world champion. The American is not blessed with a wealth of charisma and when he walks in to the room you would just think it’s some random chubby American tourist, rather than a former world champion and current No.1 contender.
Even his nicknames boring, “The Quietman” isn’t exactly up there with James “Bonecrusher” Smith, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins and Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran. Instead The Quietman leaves you with the mental image of Ruiz sparring in a library. In fact Ruiz is so dull, David Haye can’t even be bothered to trash-talk with him. He really is that boring.
The champion is approaching this bout in exactly the way he should do, no real fear, but none of that overconfident-showmanship we saw in the build-up to the Nicolay Valuev fight. Ruiz shouldn’t be a problem, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous. It’s Haye’s first title defence and he will have no real worries about swaggering back out of the Manchester M.E.N Arena with his WBA strap still over his shoulder.
You can’t just write-off Ruiz, he has held a world title twice before, claiming it on one occasion with a unanimous decision victory over Evander Holyfield. That’s an ominous warning to Haye; like Holyfield, the Hayemaker is small for a heavyweight having stepped up a division and like Holyfield he tries to combat lack of size with skill and technique.
Both fighters pack a big punch, Haye boasting 21 KO’s from 23 victories, while Ruiz has 30 from 44, both men have only been counted out on one occasion apiece. Haye memorably went down against Carl Thompson having punched himself out over five rounds. At that stage in his career Haye was a young up-and-comer who found himself schooled by a wily veteran with an iron chin. He won’t make that mistake again, unfortunately for Ruiz, because the former world champion’s best weapon in his arsenal is his iron chin. The American can really take a punch well; which says a lot about Ruiz when his best attribute is his ability to take a punch.
Just as Ruiz will be hoping for a repeat of Haye-Thompson, the Hayemaker will have David Tua’s incredible 19-second knockout victory over the American etched into his mind. Tua came sprinting out from the bell, pummelling Ruiz from the start. He threw a huge combination that left Ruiz seeing tweety-birds before the people in the back had even reached their seats.
Expect similar tactics from Haye, he knows Ruiz will struggle to deal with his hand-speed and although he will be prepared to go the distance he will also be thinking if he can land some powerful combinations in the early rounds he could silence The Quietman quicker than anyone expects. The last thing Haye wants is to be drawn into a scrap with a slugger, if Ruiz makes Haye fight his fight the Bermondsey pugilist could be in trouble.
It is fairly safe to say Ruiz will fight his normal game plan, despite persisting rumours surfacing that say he has changed his whole style. In fact the former champion is looking trim at the moment, could he really have reinvented himself at the age of 38 as a dazzling, Ali-esque showman? Very unlikely.
Ruiz will try and nullify Haye’s speed and energy by clinching and taking the fight to the inside. In that respect Haye could be in for an uncomfortable and frustrating fight as Ruiz rolls out all the old tricks, takes what Haye throws at him and tries to land some solid shots of his own. He will be aware that Haye has hit the deck a couple of times in his career and he won’t be afraid to throw a few big hits.
It’s going to be a real test for Haye, in effect his first proper heavyweight fight. Monte Barrett was washed up and Valuev just a gigantic abnormality; Ruiz is more a normal size and indicative of what else is cluttering up the division.
It probably won’t be pretty, but it would take a brave man to look past a Haye points win. In many ways that defeat to Thompson all those years back was a blessing in disguise as it taught him a lesson and the older, more mature Haye won’t be wading in, throwing big shots and punching himself out.
You’ve got to feel sorry for poor old Ruiz, twice world champion, fighting for his third and no-one remembers him or really cares very much, not even in America. Tomorrow night represents the final opportunity for the Quietman to finally roar, Haye should keep him well and truly buttoned up though.
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