| Date | 3 April 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Manchester Arena, Manchester, United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA Heavyweight Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Haye defeated Ruiz via 9th round TKO | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
David Haye vs. John Ruiz , billed as Lord Of The Ring, was a professional boxing match contested on 3 April 2010, for the WBA Heavyweight championship. [1]
Before David Haye faced Nikolai Valuev for the WBA title in November 2009, it had been agreed that the winner of the bout would face mandatory challenger and former champion John Ruiz. Haye had hoped to stage the bout in his native London, with The O2 Arena and The New Den being considered but unavailable for the 3 April date, hence the Manchester Arena was chosen. [2] [3]
Ruiz claimed that he would change his usual jab and grab style saying that "You're going to see the old Ruiz, boxing and punching," [4]
This was the first Heavyweight title bout in the UK for a decade since Lennox Lewis stopped Francois Botha in 2000 and the first ever in Manchester.
Ruiz was aiming to join Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield, and Lennox Lewis as the only boxers ever to win a heavyweight title on three or more occasions.
After only 25 seconds of the fight, Haye floored Ruiz with a left followed by a big right hand. Ruiz beat the count but was knocked down again later in the round with a punch to the back of the head. The referee, Guillermo Perez Pineda, docked Haye a point before giving Ruiz an eight-count. Ruiz had some success with his jab in the 4th round but Haye responded by rocking Ruiz with a pair of right crosses early in 5th before dropping the challenger again at the end of the round. A right hook had Ruiz down for a third time in the 6th. Haye continued to dominate before Ruiz's trainer Miguel Diaz threw in the towel with a minute left of the 9th round, giving Haye a TKO victory. [5] [6] [7] Haye became only the second person to stop Ruiz, the first since David Tua in 1996.
Following his win Haye was again linked with the Klitschko brothers, [8] [9] however he opted to face Audley Harrison, [10] after rejecting interest from Bernard Hopkins [11] and Evander Holyfield. [12]
Ruiz would retire after his defeat and would go on to open a Gym in Medford, Massachusetts.
Confirmed bouts: [13]
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Poland | Polsat |
 United Kingdom | Sky Sports |
Lennox Claudius Lewis is a British boxing commentator and former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2003. He is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion, and held the undisputed championship. Holding dual British and Canadian citizenship, Lewis represented Canada as an amateur at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics; in the latter, he won a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division. However chose to represent his country of birth when he turned professional.
John Ruiz is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2010, and held the WBA heavyweight title twice between 2001 and 2005. Ruiz is of Puerto Rican descent, and is the first Latino boxer to win a world heavyweight title.
Evander Holyfield is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and was the only boxer in history to win the undisputed championship in two weight classes in the "three belt era", a feat later surpassed by Terence Crawford, Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk, who became two-weight undisputed champions in the four-belt era. Nicknamed "the Real Deal", Holyfield is the only four-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBA, WBC, and IBF titles from 1990 to 1992, the WBA and IBF titles again from 1993 to 1994, the WBA title a third time from 1996 to 1999; the IBF title a third time from 1997 to 1999 and the WBA title for a fourth time from 2000 to 2001.
Hasim Sharif Rahman is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2014. He is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having held the unified WBC, IBF, IBO and lineal titles in 2001; and the WBC title again from 2005 to 2006. He was ranked as a top 10 heavyweight by BoxRec from 2000 to 2007, and reached his highest ranking of world No.6 in 2000.
Wladimir Klitschko is a Ukrainian former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2017. He held multiple heavyweight world championships between 2000 and 2015, including unified titles between 2008 and 2015. During this time also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) and Ring magazine titles.
Audley Hugh Harrison, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2013. As an amateur he represented Great Britain at the 2000 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super-heavyweight division and becoming the first ever British boxer to win Olympic gold in that division. Harrison turned professional the following year after signing a contract with BBC Sport, and went on to have seventeen fights on the network before their cancellation of all boxing broadcasts.
David Deron Haye is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, and was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Amateur Boxing Championships, where he won a silver medal in 2001.
Jean-Marc Gilbert Mormeck is a French former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2014. He is a two-time unified world cruiserweight champion, having held the WBA, WBC and The Ring world titles twice between 2005 and 2007. He was the first boxer to hold unified cruiserweight title since Evander Holyfield in 1988, and the first fighter to hold The Ring cruiserweight title since Carlos De León in 1987. He was ranked by BoxRec as the world's top 10 cruiserweight from 2001 to 2005 and in 2007, and was ranked No.1 in 2003 and 2004. Mormeck also challenged for the unified world heavyweight title in 2012.
Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev is a Russian politician and former professional boxer. He competed in boxing from 1993 to 2009, and held the WBA heavyweight title twice between 2005 and 2009. Standing at a height of 2.13 metres (7 ft) and a peak weight of 149 kilograms (328 lb), Valuev is best known for being the tallest and heaviest world champion in boxing history.
Ruslan Shamilevich Chagaev ; born 19 October 1978) is an Uzbekistani former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2016. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title twice and was the first Asian boxer to win a world heavyweight title by any of the four major sanctioning bodies. He was ranked as a top 10 heavyweight or contender by The Ring magazine at the conclusion of each year between 2006 and 2015; at the end of 2008 he was ranked third, only behind the Klitschko brothers.
Derek Chisora is a Zimbabwean-British professional boxer. He has challenged twice for the WBC heavyweight title in 2012 and 2022. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the British and Commonwealth titles from 2010 to 2011, and the European title from 2013 to 2014. As an amateur, he won the ABA super-heavyweight title in 2006.
Mahmoud Omeirat Charr, previously known as Manuel Charr, is a Syrian-German professional boxer. He was awarded the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title in 2023. He held the same title from 2017 to 2021.
Chris Byrd vs. Evander Holyfield was a professional boxing match contested on December 14, 2002 for the vacant IBF heavyweight championship.
Nikolai Valuev vs. Evander Holyfield was a professional boxing match contested on 20 December 2008 for the WBA heavyweight championship.
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman, billed as "X-Plosive", was a professional boxing match contested on 13 December 2008 for the IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight championship.
Nikolai Valuev vs. David Haye, billed as David vs Goliath, was a professional boxing match contested on 7 November 2009 for the WBA heavyweight championship.
John Ruiz vs. James Toney was a professional boxing match contested on April 30, 2005, for the WBA heavyweight championship.
John Ruiz vs. Andrew Golota, billed as Struggle For Supremacy (Night of the Heavyweights), was a professional boxing match contested on November 13, 2004, for the WBA Heavyweight championship.
Herbie Hide vs. Vitali Klitschko, billed as Queen & Country, was a professional boxing match contested on 26 June 1999, for the WBO Heavyweight Championship.
David Haye vs. Audley Harrison, billed as Best of Enemies, was a professional boxing match contested on 13 November 2010, for the WBA Heavyweight championship.
