David Haye Scores Ninth Round TKO Over John Ruiz -- FanHouse

By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse

England's 29-year-old David Haye scored a ninth round knockout of John Ruiz in the first defense of his WBA heavyweight title on Saturday before his partisan, British fans at M.E.N. Arena, in Manchester, England,

In victory over the 38-year-old Ruiz (44-8-1, 30 knockouts), of Chelsea, Mass., Haye stopped the former two-time titlist for only the second time in Ruiz's career, rising to 24-1, with his 22nd career knockout.

Haye dropped Ruiz twice in the first round, once in the fifth, and, yet again in the sixth.

Haye also badly battered Ruiz, who was cut on the head and bleeding from his nose, thorughout the seventh and eighth round before referee, Guillermo Perez Pineda, came to the rescue to prevent Haye from inflicting further damage as Ruiz covered up and leaned over the ropes to protect himself in the ninth.

Ruiz was stopped for the first time in his career in March of 1996, when David Tua scored a 19-second knockout in Ruiz's 28th professional fight.

Haye, who weighed in at a career-high 222 pounds to 231 for Ruiz, scored his 14th straight victory, and his 12th by knockout in that stretch.

Haye's lone loss was in September of 2004, when he was stopped in five rounds by a then-40-year-old, Carl Thompson, who entered their match up with a record of 32-6 that included being knocked out five times.

Haye was was coming off of a November, 12-round, majority decision in Nuremberg, Germany, over 7-foot, 316-pound, Nikolay Valuev, whom he dethroned for the WBA crown.

The 6-3, Haye, who tipped the scales at 218-pounds against Valuev, overcame a broken right hand in the second round to win that fight.

Haye is only the sixth Englishman ever to earn a heavyweight crown, and only the second-ever former cruiserweight (200 pounds) to do so.

Bob Fitzimmons, Herbie Hide, Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno and Henry Akinwande also were English champions, and Evander Holyfield, a former cruiserweight, dethroned Buster Douglas for that honor.

In attempting to win a crown for the third time, Ruiz was trying to join men such as Lennox Lewis, Muhammad Ali., and, Evander Holyfield , with the latter being the sport's only four-time heavyweight titlist.

A man of Puerto Rican decent, Ruiz is the only Latino to have won a heavyweight title, doing so when he held a version of the belt after defeating Holyfield in 2005.

Haye won the WBA cruiserweight crown with a seventh-round knockout of Jean Marc Mormeck in November of 2007, but then dropped it to dethrone WBC and WBO king Enzo Maccarinelli in two rounds in March of 2008, handing him only his second loss in 30 bouts and stopping him for the first time in his career.

Haye has gone 12 rounds only one other time during a lopsided decision over Ismail Abdoul in July of 2006, and been eight rounds and nine rounds (once each) in stoppages of previously unbeaten fighters, Lasse Johansen and Giacobbe Fragomeni, respectively, in March and July of 2006.

Source: boxing.fanhouse.com