By Tim Hobbs, Sky Sports
Adam Booth is the tactical and technical mastermind behind David Haye's rise to world heavyweight champion.
He is by no means your traditional up-and-at-'em trainer and both he and his fighter are known for doing things differently.
Booth's job is the science, Haye's the appliance.
But while the WBA champion gets the headlines and makes the appearances on mainstream TV, his long-time friend, manager and promoter quietly goes about his business.
In only his second full interview since that win over Nikolia Valuev, skysports.com's Tim Hobbs caught up with the Booth to talk all things, in and out of the ring...
Last time we spoke you were just about to head off to Germany to tackle the biggest heavyweight champion in history. You must have been delighted with the outcome.
BOOTH: The thing is, a lot of work went into that for years, for 24 fights, so we enjoyed it. I was as happy as I could be.
You talked before about the need for David to stay disciplined. It looked like the perfect gameplan and the perfect execution...
BOOTH: The target was not to fight the judges, it was to fight the fighter in front of us and that was a risk in itself because to try and win a fight by throwing as few punches as possible when you're away in Germany, was a big risk. But we were convinced that was the way to do it and we were proved right.
We all remember David having Valuev in trouble in the 12th. Did you think then that perhaps he might become the first man to knock him out?
BOOTH: As soon as he nailed him and I saw Valuev wobble, the first thing I shouted at him was 'Step!' - step away from him - because I know what David's like and at any point you can run into a headbutt or a wild shot. There was no need to get silly because I believed the fight had been won clearly by that point; I was just happy with the win, we didn't need the knockout.
That was over in Nuremberg of course, this is back home in Britain. How special is that going to be?
BOOTH: We went to France and beat (Jean-Marc) Mormeck, we went to Germany and beat Valuev; we do whatever we've got to do, go wherever we have to go. The fact that it's in England is great because we can share it with David's fans and that makes it a great experience - life is short and you've got to have these experiences. But I don't look at all the anecdotal stuff, I look at the fight; forget the fact it's a world heavyweight title fight, forget the fact there's going to be 20,000 people there, forget all that. It's one man against another man.
That other man is John Ruiz. Is it fair to say that he might pose more of a threat than many are giving him credit for?
BOOTH: We know that John Ruiz will be motivated because he's got the chance of an Indian summer to his career and to earn a lot of money. He knows if he can beat David, he can get a Klitschko. If he beats David he gets millions, so we know how prepared he will be.
He has a reputation for being a brawler, a messy fighter, but there were signs last time out that with a new trainer, he might not be the same John Ruiz we all know. What are you expecting?
BOOTH: I remember a few months ago seeing him skip and I noticed he had a new pair of Asics trainers and I know that he had a good new trainer - and a change is as good as a rest sometimes. So he's going to get more out of himself, he's going to be healthier by the time he gets in the ring, we know that. I expect the best out of John Ruiz. I don't expect his best days to be past him at all. In fact I think his worse days are behind him.
Ruiz was fighting for world heavyweight titles before David had even turned pro. How much will that experience count for when the bell sounds on April 3?
BOOTH: You have to be prepared to do what you've got to do for 36 minutes. John Ruiz knows what it's like to get hit hard and hurt in a title fight and be able to come back. He's been there, he's done it many times, so that's the challenge we've got.
The challenge against Valuev seemed to be based on speed and agility. David looks a lot bigger this time. Does that mean this fight is going to be about his power?
BOOTH: He's maturing as a man still and he's got to have that solid structure because you can't run from John Ruiz, he'll keep chasing you down. And when he's motivated, he'll keep chasing you down and then David's punches will lose their power. So we know that the first four rounds of this fight are going to be mayhem. We know he's going to have to bang hard, he's got to go out there like Tommy Hearns and try and take his head off, to let him know that David's got some serious power in his punches.
This is the first heavyweight world-title fight Britain has seen in 10 years. How special is that and how much does it mean to be part of it?
BOOTH: We're in a bubble really, so we don't really experience all that. It's a shame because I would love to experience it as a fan. But I wouldn't change my positon for the world and to be honest it's a bit surreal because although I am promoting it - we've already sold 17,000 tickets and it is the heavyweight championship of the world - for me it's just another fight. That's the really strange thing because I'm promoting and I'm training him, so it's just a question of 'right, what have we got to do today?'.
How much has David's profile gone up since becoming world champion. Things must be different these days?
BOOTH: They are. Massively. The tickets have sold themselves. I call myself the promoter, but I'm a bit of a snidey one because I haven't really had to do anything!
David is appearing on our TV's in quiz shows, at awards dinners now, so things must have changed most for him. Is it hard to keep his feet on the ground with all this going on?
BOOTH: No. I just show him a picture of John Ruiz (there is a silhouette on the gym wall). That cut-out's there for a reason.
And what about Adam Booth? We don't know much about you. How does the trainer of the world heavyweight champion fill his time away from the sport?
BOOTH: Well, I think I'm going to start dying my all my grey hairs for a start! I've got three daughters; two teenagers and a little 18-month-old girl and I've got another one on the way. Now I just love sitting down watching her run around. Now I've got a little older, I've slowed down myself, I just enjoy watching her experience her day. For me it's like watching a TV show all day... one that David's not on!
Source: skysports.com
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