MANCHESTER, England — David Haye
made a successful first defense of his WBA heavyweight title, knocking
down John Ruiz four times Saturday before the American challenger's
corner stopped the fight in the ninth round.
The 29-year-old Haye sent Ruiz to the
canvas twice in the first round, but Ruiz survived until his trainer
waved the white towel two minutes and one second into the ninth round.
"I am really happy," Haye said. "I
felt I was really sharp. There were a load of fans here. The crowd has
been absolutely electric for me. There was a 20,000 capacity here with
everyone screaming the 'Hayemaker.' With performances like that I'll
keep the fans behind me."
For the 38-year-old Ruiz, who held and
lost the WBA title twice, it was the ninth defeat of a 55-fight career.
"We were close to rearranging the
fight a few weeks ago because David cut his hand sparring," Haye's
trainer Adam Booth said. "But David was very confident he could win it
without sparring properly and that's what he did."
Haye's mission now is to unite the
heavyweight belts by fighting either Vitali
or Wladimir Klitschko, who between them hold the WBC, IBF and minor WBO titles.
So relaxed was Haye in the buildup to
the fight that he spent the afternoon at Old Trafford watching
Manchester United lose to Chelsea in the Premier League.
Haye — a former cruiserweight champion
— made an explosive start at the M.E.N. Arena in the first heavyweight
title fight to be staged in Britain for a decade.
Haye, who won the heavyweight title
from Russia's Nikolai Valuev in November, sent Ruiz crashing down inside
the opening 30 seconds, but the American got up on a count of seven.
Ruiz was on the canvas again before
the end of the round, and much to Haye's disbelief managed to survive
the speedy punching combinations into a second round.
And Ruiz's experience — this was his
11th world title bout — began to tell as he looked resilient in the face
of the tough punishment. But he continued to face a barrage of heavy
blows and went down again in the fifth and sixth rounds — rising on a
count of eight each time.
Ruiz was not capitulating, but he
could take no more in the ninth as Haye won by technical knockout.