Haye batters brave Ruiz

David Haye retained his WBA heavyweight title by way of ninth round stoppage last night after delivering a sustained beating to the incredibly brave American challenger John Ruiz.

‘The Quiet Man’ had been down four times in all and withstood some very heavy punches from ‘The Hayemaker’ and it was a relief when Ruiz’s trainer, Miguel Diaz, waved the towel after his man had taken another heavy combination. It was accepted at 2:01 of the round.

The 20,000 capacity crowd at Manchester’s MEN Arena ‘greeted’ Ruiz, from Massachusetts, with the customary but rather ignorant chant of ‘Who are yer?’ Perhaps most weren’t fight fans seeing as this was the visitor’s twelfth world title fight. Whereas he jogged to the ring, Haye sauntered and rarely has anyone looked more comfortable in the limelight. He looked on the verge of bursting out laughing at times, such was his delight.

Right from the first bell the challenger threw down the gauntlet, dashing at the champion. Astonishingly for a man so famously durable, he was sat down from Haye’s very first one-two combination of the night. Shaky, on rising he did not successfully retreat as he might have done and was saved from hitting the canvas again by the ropes, needlessly followed up by Haye with a couple of clear rabbit punches – a foul he was to repeat throughout the night. Ruiz was given another count and Haye was rightly docked a point. Haye’s orthodox combinations were really piercing Ruiz’s guard and towards the end of the session the challenger was already looking desperate. The bell went but Ruiz fought on, sparking outrage from the patriotic crowd.

In a pattern which was to continue for every round, no matter how badly the previous session finished, out Ruiz would bound, on the front foot trying to win the contest on sheer will. He did get through with some decent work in this round but Haye was boxing in a very controlled fashion, his jab looking a thing of deadly beauty.

This continued in the third and the repeated heavy leads caused Ruiz’s already spread nose to starting bleeding. I actually gave Ruiz the fourth session; he continued to force the pace and had notable success with the right hand, especially when delivered straight.

This success appeared to instill Ruiz with new vigour and he positively bounced out of his corner to start the fifth. This fire was soon doused by a right, left combination from the champion who then opened up with a spectacular left. Ruiz fought back bravely as Haye refused to get carried away, returning to the spiteful jab. A beautiful, piledriving straight right put Ruiz down for the third time in the fight and unfortunately Haye again followed up with a rabbit punch. Ruiz took a knee as referee Guillermo Perez gave the eight count which ended shortly before the bell rang to temporarily alleviate Ruiz’s suffering.

Perhaps Ruiz should change his name to ‘The Bogey Man’ as Haye must have been thinking his challenger was the stuff of nightmares at the start of the sixth. Ruiz bounced out of his corner again despite the events of the previous three minutes. However, a right hook from the champion had Ruiz down for a fourth time, Haye compounding his misery with more rabbit punching. The Londoner decided to really open up but Ruiz reminded him to be respectful, catching him with a big uppercut on his way in.

Round seven was a battle of the jabs which Haye won. Ruiz’s heart was absolutely immense as he kept marching forward, defying all logic. Haye offered great variety in the eighth, a right uppercut, some lefts, a short right then a left hook all getting home at some stage. Ruiz banged in a straight right but Haye danced out of any potential trouble. The round concluded with yet another heavy straight right from the champion.

Ruiz’s fortitude was now truly beyond the call of duty and an end to his pain would have been merciful for all concerned. Fortunately, this came in the ninth. A right, left, right combination all hit home and Haye looked to open up. Ruiz’s trainer Miguel Diaz did the decent thing and waved the towel which was immediately accepted by referee Perez.

The match brought to my mind Rocky Marciano’s quote after he battered (and fouled) a similarly brave challenger in England’s Don Cockell – “Never have I hit a man so hard, so often.” A press colleague of mine remarked that Haye’s hands would be incredibly sore after delivering such a shellacking. “I’d rather have Haye’s hands than Ruiz’s head,” I replied.

Onwards and upwards now for The Hayemaker who, considering the buzz around Manchester before the match and the capacity crowd in the arena, is turning into the crossover star he’s always wanted to be.

A starlet, if not a star quite yet, George Groves put in one of the most impressive performances I’ve seen from a professional novice in doing what nobody else has managed to do, stopping Ghana’s Charles Adamu, in the sixth round. The African’s super-middleweight Commonwealth belt was on the line.

Hammersmith’s 22-year-old Groves (11st 13lbs 4oz) was the boss from the first bell, doubling up with the jab and making Adamu (11st 11lbs) look crude. A short right hook put the champion down on one knee. Groves boxed in measured fashion, displaying a variety and confidence which only increased throughout the bout.

Groves fired in a right hook early in the second and Adamu was already showing signs of distress, looking wild in attack. At one point he stumbled to the ground holding Groves’ waist, trying to take the young Londoner with him. Groves rewarded him with a right hook to the body.

Adamu improved slightly in the third but another short right at the start of the fourth had Adamu taking another knee. Groves was beginning to put on a showcase and on rising, Adamu had to withstand accurate jabs, hooks to the body and a particularly good short right hand at the end of a combination which had Adamu down for a third time. This time, the champion was on both knees. He rose and wisely decided to hold and spoil to buy some time.

In truth, that’s all it was though.

Groves coasted the fifth, enjoying his total dominance. The sixth was the same and although Adamu was not in any real trouble when referee Victor Loughlin decided he’d seen enough after another hard right hook got home, the stoppage was correct. The match had been incredibly one-sided and Adamu was just going to endure more brutality. Time of the stoppage was 2:51.

A beaming David Coldwell of Team Hayemaker said afterwards, “I told you! And you know what? There’s more to come!” Any boxing purist would do well to keep an eye on this kid.

Two British warriors look like they have sadly reached the end of the road. Firstly, Salford’s former British, Commonwealth and European champion Jamie Moore; Secondly, Hornchurch’s former British and European champion, Colin Lynes.

Moore, now boxing up at middleweight, was pulled out by his trainer Oliver Harrison after the sixth round of his contest against Minsk tough man Sergey Khomitski. It was the right decision. The fight took place almost entirely at close quarters and I gave Moore rounds one, two and four as well as a share of the second. But even by the third it was clear there was not a lot of zip to Moore’s work and he was beginning to spend more and more time on the ropes.

Belarussian Khomitski (21-7-1), four years Moore’s senior at 35, sensed an upset win and he was quite right. He took the fifth on workrate as Moore was clearly struggling in a rut. The Lancastrian’s energy reserves were almost completely depleted in the sixth and Khomitski was firing in unanswered shots, an eye-catching left hook to the body included. Moore’s legs just wouldn’t work. Harrison made the right decision not exposing his man to more punishment.

Moore talked of moving up to super-middle but – and one never takes any pleasure in saying this because he’s a lovely fella and has been a great servant to the sport – the only place he ought to be moving to is retirement.

Perhaps the same sentiments can be extended to Colin Lynes. He packed in half way through the eighth round of a challenge for Ajose Olusegan’s Commonwealth light-welterweight belt.

No single punch did it. He was just tired, fed up and befuddled by the awkward London-based Nigerian. Lynes had lost every round on my card other than the fifth, when Olusegan took a breather.

Olusegan (9st 12lbs 8oz), born in Lagos but currently residing in Finchley, made his customary ring entrance, singing to a homeland song, bedecked in native garb of dazzling green. He was on the front foot from the first bell and his pressure soon told on Lynes (same weight). The Essex PE teacher, always fit and game, tried his best but he just doesn’t have it anymore. Olusegan remains unbeaten on 28 but he has holes in his game which the Lynes of a few years ago might have been able to exploit. The African is tricky, unorthodox and a southpaw to boot but is also guilty of being very wild and times. Regardless, he was too much for Colin. Time of the stoppage was 1:23.

Bermondsey’s Peter ‘The Connemara Kid’ McDonagh won a deserved 79-75 verdict over visting French light-welter champion Christophe Sebire. The visitor from Rouen had heart and effort and perhaps the four-point margin was too wide but McDonagh was certainly more clever and boxed very nicely indeed. It was a good undercard scrap, Sebire mainly chasing the exiled Irish southpaw. A delighted McDonagh left the ring sporting an outsized Leprechaun hat and ginger beard. I kid you not.

Manchester-based American Adrian Gonzalez saw his five-fight unbeaten run deservedly snapped by Scottish journeyman James Ancliff. Gonzalez, a tall, thin and rangy featherweight, did very little indeed whereas Ancliff worked hard right from the off. I feared a terrible hometown decision what with Gonzalez being the local unbeaten prospect and Ancliff (now 7-11-1) coming all the way from Aberdeen and probably expected to lose. I needn’t have worried and referee Michael Alexander’s tally of 40-36 was spot on. Ancliff, on a losing run of eight, was delighted.

In the show opener, Liverpool super-middleweight Carl Dilks threw what he later described as the best punch of his life, a chilling right hook, to spark out Plymouth’s Carl Drake in the last session of their sixth rounder. It was one of those worrying knockouts. Drake didn’t move for five minutes. After ten, medics thankfully decided he was OK.

The contest was a decent one up until this savage ending, though Dilks was certainly getting the better of it. His nickname ‘Dynamite’ was well and truly earned. After unluckily losing to Adamu on a split decision last December, Dilks fancies a pop at new champion, Groves. Be careful what you wish for – though it would be an absolute cracker for British fans.

In the walkout bout, Danny Randall beat Daniel Thorpe on points over four rounds.

All in all, a memorable night for British boxing, showcasing the highs and lows, the entrances and exits of the sport.