Ruiz laughs off Haye's attacks -- ESPN

ESPN.co.uk

John Ruiz laughed off David Haye's verbal onslaught before insisting that he intends to do his talking in the ring on April 3.

WBA heavyweight champion Haye, who is never shy of dishing out insults before taking on an opponent, has labelled Ruiz as "boring" and the "cure for insomnia".

Ruiz, who insists that these barbs have not affected him, is not participating in the war of words. Instead, he is concentrating on his strategy for the fight, which he feels will counter Haye's preferred approach.

"If that's the worst thing he can say about me, then I'm very shocked because people say he really likes to talk," Ruiz said. "If this is what he has to do to get motivated and get in fight mode, then he'd better do as much talking as he needs to because come Saturday, I'll be ready to do my talking in the ring.

"We know he likes to move around a lot and at times take things easy, but we want to throw him off the groove, let him know that basically he's going to have to throw enough punches to keep me away from him."

Ominously for Ruiz, Haye insists that his punches are carrying more menace than at any other time in his career. "The way I'm punching, Ruiz will have had to have improved his punch resistance tenfold to go the distance," he said.

Ricky Hatton echoes Haye's belief that the fight will not span the full 12 rounds. "Ruiz a bit on the slow side and David won't have trouble stopping him. If he can carry on like he's going, David can be a mega-star in the heavyweight division. I'd pay for a ticket to watch him," Hatton said.

"He can fly the flag for British boxing with his great personality, exciting style and his will to finish a fight early by always going for the knockout."

Source: espn.co.uk