As expected, David 'The Hayemaker' Haye this afternoon officially announced that his first WBA world heavyweight title defence will be against number one contender John 'The Quiet Man' Ruiz on Saturday, April 3rd.

The scheduled 12-rounder will take place at the MEN Arena in Manchester and will mark the first time the world heavyweight championship has been competed for in Britain for 10 years. The contest will be televised live and exclusively on Sky Box Office.

Speaking about the threat ahead, Haye, 29, said: "He's (Ruiz) the same size as me, he's a lot faster than my last opponent (Nikolai Valuev) and he can punch a bit, too. He floored Evander Holyfield, which is something neither Lennox Lewis or Mike Tyson could manage.

"I expect Ruiz to come over to England with a solid game plan, but I feel no matter what he brings to the table, I will find some way to counter-act that and not only beat him, but beat him spectacularly and knock him out."

A former two-time WBA world heavyweight champion in his own right, Ruiz has mixed in world-class waters for over 10 years. He has claimed the scalps of former champions Evander Holyfield and Hasim Rahman, and has also scored more recent wins over Andrew Golota and Jameel McCline.

Ruiz wasn't able to attend this afternoon's press conference and Haye felt 'The Quiet Man's absence was more than apt.

"They call him 'The Quiet Man' simply because he's boring," added Haye. "He doesn't talk, he doesn't say anything and he doesn't turn up to press conference. He just gets in the ring and fights ugly. It's not even like he puts on a show when it comes time to fight. He's just all-round boring. A cure for insomnia.

"Nobody wants to watch him and nobody wants to claim him. The Puerto Ricans say that he's American and the Americans say that he's Puerto Rican. Nobody wants him."

Haye will hope to increase the excitement levels in Manchester, when he attempts to become only the second man to ever stop Ruizin a 54-bout professional career.