John Ruiz cannot wait for David Haye title challenge

Boxing John Ruiz has warned David Haye that he should be worrying about him rather than trying to build up a unification bout against one of the Klitschko brothers (Ron Lewis writes).
Ruiz, 38, challenges Haye for his WBA heavyweight title on April 3 at the MEN Arena, Manchester.
“All I’ve heard him talk about was fighting the Klitschkos,” Ruiz, a two-time former WBA champion, said. “There has only been one person I have been wanting to fight and that’s Haye.”
Audley Harrison will face Michael Sprott for the vacant European heavyweight title at Alexandra Palace, North London, on April 9, it has been confirmed.

Klitschko brothers in sibling rivalry to fight world champion David Haye

Such is the desperation to defend family pride against the insults of David Haye that the Klitschko brothers might even resort to tossing a coin to decide who will fight the Briton.
Older brother Vitali, who is the WBC world heavyweight champion, wants to pull rank by virtue of age, while Wladimir, the IBF, WBO and IBO champion, is still angry that Haye, holder of the WBA belt, pulled out of their scheduled fight last autumn.
What irks them both is the T-shirt Haye wore depicting him holding the severed heads of the two brothers.
Speaking in Abu Dhabi ahead of tonight’s Laureus World Sports Awards, Vitali said: ‘I want to close David Haye’s mouth myself.
'I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Haye against John Ruiz next month. Not because I like him, but because he’s the greatest talker.
'He cut off my head and the head of my brother. I’m lucky that my mum didn’t see the pictures. And he has the one world title we don’t have in the family.
'I told Wladimir: “I want to fight David Haye.”

McAllister targets America on Haye v Ruiz launch pad

Commonwealth lightweight champion Lee McAllister is planning to use the David Haye v John Ruiz heavyweight title fight as an opportunity to attract the attention of America. The Aberdeen Assassin will make the third defence of his title against Ben Murphy on the undercard of the WBA world heavyweight fight at Manchester’s MEN Arena on April 3.

The fight will be broadcast live on Sky Box Office in the UK and will provide the 27-year-old with a platform to demonstrate his talents both at home and in the US.

However, the Aberdonian will be hoping to put on a better show than his last performance on Sky, which saw him put on a lacklustre display to outpoint Ghanaian Sam Amoako last month.
McAllister, 31-2 (7 KOs), is on a three fight winning streak and has thrilled audiences with his knockouts of Godfriend Sowah, to claim the Commonwealth title, and Scottish champion Charlie King. The lightweight apologised for his performance after the Amoako fight and will be eager to make amends.

With the world watching McAllister will have all the motivation he needs to give it his all against the inexperienced Murphy and plans to take advantage of the attention.
“We’ve got bigger and better things now,” said McAllister. “We’ve got a massive stage of world boxing – David Haye versus John Ruiz.
“I’m on the undercard in one of the chief supporting fights so it’s looking good. We are hoping to get big feedback from the Americans and hopefully get a big stage fight over there.”
The headline bout will see Haye defend his WBA heavyweight strap for the first time against American challenger Ruiz. The Hayemaker faces the mandatory challenger en route to a unification bout with either Klitschko brother - that is, of course, if he gets past the durable and experienced Ruiz.

David Haye Tickets are available online on GigSport.

Haye & Klitschko target showdown

WBA champion David Haye and WBC king Vitali Klitschko want a heavyweight unification clash next year.
The Ukrainian told BBC Radio 5 live he is "ready to give Haye a fight and to knock him out" once he has got past American Kevin Johnson on 12 December.
Briton Haye, who faces a mandatory defence against former WBA champion John Ruiz, responded: "Let's get it on. I look forward to a mega-showdown."
Haye took the WBA title by outpointing Russian Nikolay Valuev on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Londoner won a majority decision in Nuremberg to become the first British world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis retired in 2003.
Haye has already seen one bout with Klitschko fall through and also pulled out of a June meeting with Klitschko's younger brother, IBF and WBO champion Wladimir, because of a back injury.
"It is very difficult to say what will happen in the future because Haye is so unpredictable, but I am ready at any time to fight him," said Klitschko, 38.

What’s Next for David Haye?

David Haye captured the WBA Heavyweight Title… Now what?
In beating WBA titlest Nikolai Valuev, David Haye breathed some much-needed life back into the heavyweight division and became the darling of the British sports pages. With so much attention focused on the London native, the natural question is “what next?”
Haye’s boasting to the contrary, he will not be squaring off with either of the Klitschko brothers in the near future. On the same night that Haye out-boxed Valuev, former WBA titlest John “The Quiet Man” Ruiz knocked out journeyman Adnan Serin. Ruiz is the #1 contender and mandatory challenger for the WBA strap, and according to the terms of his agreement to step aside and allow Haye vs. Valuev to go forward, he was guaranteed a shot at the title by May 2010. BBC is reporting that Haye wants to hold his next fight at a major London venue, so Haye vs. Ruiz could happen before a roaring hometown crowd as early as February 2010.
Although he weighed in for his fight with Serin at a trim 227 lbs., John Ruiz is now 37 years old. He was never much of a world-beater in the first place, and his career has been built around the left-right-clutch-hold style of heavyweight boxing. While it is true that this boring style ages very well, it still doesn’t look promising for a match-up with Haye. Haye is much faster, and his hitting power will score better against a small heavyweight like Ruiz than it did against the Russian behemoth. Ruiz could make that a very ugly night if he comes to survive rather than to win, but either way it is hard to see Haye losing.
After Ruiz, surely Haye will challenge one of the Klitschko’s? Don’t bet on it. A Haye vs. Klitschko fight would be a big moneymaker, but no one should forget that Haye backed out of fights with first Wladimir and then Vitali earlier this year. Both Klitschko’s are furious with Haye’s business tactics and his trash talking. That will only strengthen their resolve to get the lion’s share of the purse for any fight with Haye, and it is unlikely that Haye will settle for anything less than 50-50. Furthermore, Haye knows that beating a Klitschko is a much bigger challenge than the plodding Valuev. He may seek to bide his time and hope that one of the brothers will start showing their age before moving in on them. Odds are very good that either the Ukrainians or the Hayemaker will cause negotiations to break down, in which case David Haye will be looking for a dance partner for late summer or early autumn 2010

David Haye wins WBA heavyweight title

David Haye landed the WBA heavyweight title with victory over Nikolai Valuev and then set his sights on the Klitschko brothers as part of his quest to dominate the division.
From London scored the 29 year old a majority decision verdict after taking the 2.13m tall, 143kg Russian giant the full twelve round distance, using his superior speed to stay away from his opponent's close range punches.
Haye must now face John Ruiz of the United States in a mandatory defence, but says he will then seek out either IBF and WBO champion Wladimir Klitscko or his brother Vitali, the WBC champion.
"Anyone who has a belt is in my sights now - definitely the Klitschkos," said Haye, who had secured fights with both Ukrainian brothers last summer only for the match ups to fall through.
"The Klitschkos tried to lock me down in a crazy contract. I am free now to fight who I want to."
Haye revealed he had damaged his right hand early in Saturday's fight and was shocked at how hard Valuev's head was to punch.
"I damaged my right early in the fight, I think it was the second round, he has a very hard head, it was like punching a brick wall," said Haye.
"I have hit heavy bags before in the gym, but I knew I had broken my hand straight away."
Haye, Britain's first heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis's retirement in 2003, said it was an incredible feeling to have won.
"It's a bit surreal to be honest. When you strive for something your whole life, what do you do?" he said.
"Some people said I was crazy to fight this guy, but I proved the Hayemaker can turn it on when he wants to.
"I think I can clean up in this division and there is plenty more to come."
Having branded Valuev "a circus freak" before the fight, Haye said he had proved his value as a showman by backing up his brash claims.
"I say what the fight fans want to hear, I talk big and then I produce the goods," he said.
"I said I would make him look silly, I said he wouldn't hit me and that is what I did, I have beaten the biggest and tallest champion of all time."
Haye insisted his speed and athleticism was the key to the shock upset in just his third heavyweight fight as he inflicted only the second defeat of Valuev's career.
"The key was speed," insisted the new world champion. "People don't realise I am very fast, I have powerful punches.
"It was my speed and power. I am an athlete and if I wasn't boxing I would be playing football or rugby.
"Being a good athlete means you can put on good performances like that. My athleticism made the difference."
Valuev, 36, admitted he was shocked by Haye's performance.
"From my point of view, the main thing which went wrong today was the pace," said the Russian.
"It was like a marathon for me and I wasn't prepared to run so much like you would in a world championships."
Haye said he sees few problems against Ruiz, a former WBA champion.
"I don't think he is the most entertaining. He has won the world title before and you don't do that by being a bad fighter," said Haye.
"I will be way too fast, I will knock him out."

David Haye boxer has sleeping problems ahead of Valuev clash

David Haye British challenger on Tuesday admitted having a few sleeping problems ahead of his showdown with WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev here on Saturday night.
Valuev, 36, takes on Haye at the Nuremberg Arena with former cruiserweight Haye eager to claim his first world title and the Londoner has made a habit of taunting the 2.13m tall Russian in the build-up.
But Haye was quick to change hotels after arriving in the Bavarian city on Monday insisting he could not sleep in his original bed.
"When I reached German soil, I was guided towards a disgusting hotel, with a dingy room," the former cruiserweight wrote on his blog.
"After a quick call or two, we managed to depart the rancid lair with our legs and arms still intact.
"We really ended up at a lovely five star hotel, though we had to pay for the five star privilege.
"Still, if it saves us from the guaranteed Black Death of the first place, it will be well worth the price."
Valuev is looking to pick up his 51st professional win with 34 knock outs and just one defeat, to Ruslan Chagaev in April 2007, on his record and Haye says he will not be fazed by the minor set-back.
"These are the sort of mind games and tactics you have to put up with when fighting abroad," he said.
"They rattle some fighters, while others refuse to ever box on foreign territory.
"The foreign promoters are always looking to give their guy any possible advantage and they'll look to screw you around left, right and centre if they think it's going to unsettle you."
Haye, 29, is 23cms shorter and nearly 40 kgs lighter than Valuev in what is a true David versus Goliath contest, but the Russian does not care if the Brit is losing sleep worrying about facing him.
"I don't care whether he can sleep or not," said Valuev.
"And I don't really care about what hotel he stays in.
"I am really looking forward to Saturday night when I will meet him in the ring and defend my title.
"I cannot wait to land a few heavy blows on him."
On Tuesday, Valuev and Haye held open workout sessions at a shopping precinct in Nuremberg.
Valuev did some light stretching and shadow boxing before Haye entered the ring with his coach having turned his pads into a special mask.
"That is Valuev," said Haye.
"This is how we have prepared for him."