
Newly-crowned WBA world heavyweight champion David 'The Hayemaker' Haye looks to
commence his reign of terror on Saturday, April 3rd as he makes the first defence
of his title against number one-ranked contender John 'The Quiet Man' Ruiz.
The scheduled 12-rounder will take place at Manchester's MEN Arena and will be screened
live and exclusively on Sky Box Office from 8 PM.
Considered the most explosive puncher in world boxing today, Haye seeks another
highlight-reel knockout against Ruiz, a former champion only ever stopped once in
54 professional fights.
A respected veteran of the sport, American Ruiz is a two-time former WBA world heavyweight
champion and a fighter renowned for his durability and powers of recovery.
Listed among his beaten victims are the names of Evander Holyfield, Hasim Rahman,
Andrew Golota and Kirk Johnson. Currently 44-8-1 in his professional career, 'The
Quiet Man' looks to complete a hat-trick of world heavyweight title wins with victory
over Haye.
"Beating Haye would land me my third world championship and not many people achieve
that in their career," says Ruiz. "There is a lot to gain for me in this fight.
I know Haye is going to be a challenge, but it's a challenge I really look forward
to. This fight couldn't be coming to me at a better time in my life. I'm ready to
shock the world one more time."
Fresh on the scene and considered a shot in the arm of a flagging division, Haye
carries the hopes of a nation and a sport on his shoulders. With 21 devastating
knockouts from 23 pro wins, Haye is blessed with the vicious power and desire to
excite that the heavyweight division has been sorely craving.
The 29-year-old Haye first rose to prominence as a cruiserweight, winning the WBC
and WBA world titles against Jean-Marc Mormeck in November 2007. A slight underdog
going into the fight, Haye recovered from an early knockdown to dramatically knockout
Mormeck in Paris, France.
Firmly established as the number one cruiserweight in the world, Haye then set his
sights on replicating his success as a heavyweight. First, however, he attempted
to clean up some domestic business by agreeing to a cruiserweight unification clash
with Wales' WBO titleholder Enzo Maccarinelli in March 2008.
Deemed a competitive match-up on paper, Haye tore up the form lines and destroyed
an overmatched Maccarinelli in two brutal rounds of counter-punching.
With a division cleared out, Haye finally pursued his heavyweight dream in the latter
half of 2008. His first stop came in the form of perennial American contender Monte
Barrett in November '08. Clearly carrying too much firepower for the man known as
'2 Gunz', Haye dropped Barrett five times and stopped him in the fifth round of
an exciting slugfest.
It would be just less than a year before Haye received his long-awaited shot at
the world heavyweight title. Last November in Nuremberg, Germany, Haye faced up
to the challenge of 7-foot-2-inch, 23-stone Russian champion Nikolai Valuev. Nicknamed
'The Beast From The East', Valuev was the WBA world heavyweight titleholder and
a man never stopped, dropped, wobbled or hurt inside the ring.
In a true 'David vs. Goliath' encounter, Haye conceded a staggering foot in height
and seven stone in weight. Yet, despite his physical disadvantages, Haye used brainpower
to box-and-move his way to a comfortable decision victory after 12 rounds. Wobbling
the immovable giant in the very last round, Haye befuddled and rocked 'The Beast',
landing him the WBA world heavyweight title in the process.
Now earmarked as a saviour of the sport, Haye's quest for heavyweight title unification
begins on April 3rd in Manchester. Having won the world heavyweight title abroad,
Haye now relishes the opportunity to bring it home.
"This is going to be one of the most dramatic and explosive heavyweight fights in
years," warns Haye. "Ruiz likes to come forward and make a fight of it, and I'll
be doing exactly the same. I won't have to go looking for him and I won't have to
leap in the air to hit him.
"I'm fighting somebody my own size on April 3rd, and the heavyweight division are
about to really discover what I'm all about."