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David Haye Will Knockout John Ruiz

Colin LinneweberJan 12, 2010

WBA world heavyweight champion David โ€œThe Hayemakerโ€ Haye will defend his crown against former two-time WBA heavyweight titlist John โ€œThe Quiet Manโ€ Ruiz this April at Wembley Stadium in London, England.

Haye (23-1, 21 KOs), only the fifth British pugilist in history to win a piece of the heavyweight championship, held the WBA, WBC, WBO and The Ring Magazine cruiserweight titles before he vacated them to instead compete in boxing's glamour division.

Haye captured the WBA crown when he defeated Nikolay Valuev (50-2, 34 KOs) by a close majority decision last November at the Nuremberg Arena in Germany.

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Although heavily-muscled, Haye is relatively diminutive in stature compared to most other heavyweights in the division.

On the contrary, Valuev is an enormous seven-foot Russian who tips the scales in excess of 350 Lbs.

Hence, their matchup was aptly billed โ€œDavid and Goliath.โ€

Prior to the contest, Haye cruelly and ruthlessly mocked Valuevโ€™s ghastly physical appearance.

โ€œHe (Valuev) is the ugliest thing I have ever seen,โ€ said Haye, 29, who has continually expressed his admiration for past cruiserweight champion Evander Holyfield.

โ€œI have watched Lord of the Rings and films with strange looking people, but for a human being to look like he does is pretty shocking.โ€

Haye possesses tremendous skills and he has genuine power in both of his fists.

Some onlookers contend that he is the one prizefighter who can trump a Klitshcko and ensure that the Ukrainian brothers donโ€™t ultimately monopolize the heavyweight division.

However, other boxing experts believe that Haye simply couldnโ€™t compensate for the amount of size that he would surrender to either Klitschko in the ring.

โ€œHaye is an active fighter and he has very good skills,โ€ said Mike Cappiello (33-6), a native of Brockton who once fought for the IBO super featherweight title.

โ€œHaye is a good cruiserweight. But, he is just too small to overcome the size of the Klitschko brothers.โ€

โ€œThe Hayemakerโ€ will always have his chin questioned because he was shockingly TKOโ€™d in the fifth round by Carl โ€œThe Catโ€ Thompson (34-6, 25 KOs) in April 2004.

โ€œIโ€™ll always have a suspect chin,โ€ confessed Haye. โ€œAnyone whoโ€™s been down always will. But, Iโ€™ve never been on the canvas for longer than eight seconds. You can train yourself to take punishment.โ€

Ruiz (44-8-1), a native of the Boston area, is a decent fighter and he has had his fair share of success in the professional ranks.

Nevertheless, Ruiz, 38, is not a powerful bruiser and Haye should be able to utilize his speed to land solid combinations and frustrate the larger โ€œQuiet Man.โ€

Haye should knockout Ruiz in three months and it is not impossible to envision a scenario where he eventually battles a Klitschko and emerges victorious.

โ€œThe Klitschko brothers can be beat,โ€ added Cappiello. โ€œThey are always on the outside not wanting to be hit because they know their chins arenโ€™t the greatest.โ€

Haye may โ€œalways have a suspect chin.โ€

Still, with the dearth of talent found in the current heavyweight landscape, he could soon be that divisionโ€™s newest king.

*Cappiello Brothers Boxing gym is located on 162 Main Street in Brockton, Massachusetts (02301).

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