MANCHESTER, England - John Ruiz calls himself “The Quiet Man,” and that’s what David Haye and most of the powers in boxing want him to remain Saturday night - quiet, man.
Don’t bet on it.
The two-time WBA heavyweight champion from Chelsea is trying not only to reclaim that title which young Haye now holds, but also to put his name in boxing’s history books next to three of the best heavyweights who ever lived - Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield
and Lennox Lewis.
and Lennox Lewis.
Unbelievable as it may seem to his critics, if Ruiz upsets Haye at the M.E.N. Arena, he will join them as the only men to win the heavyweight title three times.No one, including Ruiz, ever expected one day his name might be in the same sentence with such fistic luminaries. But such are the vagaries of the sport today, and such is the determination of Ruiz who, by his own admittance, has “so-so talent, but I make up for things I lack with heart.”
That is what has sustained him through a nearly 18-year professional career and brought him to this moment at an age when far more gifted fighters have long faded away into civilian life.
That spirit comes from a well-spring given him by his mother, Gladys Martinez Morales, who worked three jobs to feed him and his siblings and instilled in each of them a fundamental understanding that life will knock you down. That is a given, no matter your station in life. All that matters is what happens next.
Considering the job he chose, it was good advice.
“No matter what pushed her down, she got up and kept moving forward,” Ruiz said after a light workout at the Northside Boxing Gym in a less-than-fully-refined section of Manchester. “She used to say don’t look back. That’s when you lose focus. That’s the character I saw in my mother.”
It is the way Ruiz has had to be throughout his career, which includes 11 world title fights (5-4-1, 1 no contest), a series of promoters not inclined to believe in him, and a constant battle to overcome critics who hated his brawling style because it made for less than scintillating television.
“They always used me to test other fighters,” Ruiz (44-8-1, 30 KO) recalled. “Whether it was Pannix Promotions (who promoted Lewis for a time) or Don King, they only wanted to test their fighters against me to see what the next step was for the other person. Every time, I was supposed to get knocked out and stepped over.”
Seldom have his wins been an art form, and seldom have his defeats been undisputed, except for a quick KO loss early in his career against David Tua, and a one-sided points loss to Roy Jones, Jr. that still haunts him today.
“I quit on myself that night,” Ruiz admitted. “I’m not proud of that, but it’s the truth. I was going through a divorce and everyone wanted Jones to win. That was the vibe I felt that night, and the sad part is that was the vibe I accepted. I just said to myself, ‘If they want to give it to him, let him have it.’ ”
That is the only time Ruiz’ spirit has been broken, and he’s since come back to reclaim the WBA title once and fight for it two other times. If he doesn’t win, this will be the last time - and he understands that, just as he knows why he’s a 6-1 underdog. Haye is 29, a former cruiserweight champion, native Brit, handsome, chiseled, glib and portrayed as the future of the division. Ruiz is The Quiet Man. Seldom in boxing is the quiet man the favored one.
“We both got something to prove,” Ruiz said. “I have to prove I still belong at this level, and he has to prove he ever belonged at this level.”
This is only Haye’s fourth heavyweight fight, having won the title from 7-foot Nikolai Valuev barely four months ago, who twice beat Ruiz in close and hotly disputed decisions. He has said he intends to storm Ruiz from the outset, overwhelming him with superior speed and his feared right hand.
Ruiz shrugs at the thought of that and smiles.
“If he wants to make it a fight, that’s my jungle,” he said. “It’s not what I’d do if I was him.”
At 38, Ruiz is who he’s always been. He’s The Quiet Man, the Underdog, the B-side.
Saturday night, none of those things will matter once he’s alone with David Haye. The only thing that will matter then is that he’s still Gladys Martinez Morales’ son, a fellow not easily dissuaded or defeated.
Source: news.bostonherald.com
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