By Oli Smith

Back in November when he traveled to Germany to beat Nikolai Valuev, David Haye attempted to send a message to the heavyweight division. Unfortunately the message sent wasn’t quite as clear as he would have liked. On Saturday, at the MEN Arena in Manchester, he got a second chance to sting Boxing’s most storied division awake.The buzz for this fight had been slowly building, reaching a crescendo at the weigh-in when Haye tipped the scales at 222lbs; a career high. Not to be outdone, Ruiz jumped on the scales, registering eight-pounds lighter than his previous world heavyweight championship attempt, against Nikolai Valuev.

With a common opponent in Valuev it might be tempting to draw comparisons in performances, yet that would be deceiving on the part of both men. Haye fought an uncharacteristically defensive fight – with or without just cause - and was lucky in some people’s eyes to come away with a victory out of Germany which is notoriously stingy to foreign fighters. Ruiz meanwhile had taken on a new head coach in Miguel Diaz, a move that promised to revolutionize his style.

As the bell sounded to begin the first round David Haye started his first test as heavyweight champion. Immediately Ruiz jogged to center ring, preventing Haye establishing himself early. The fledgling champion clearly hadn’t read the script, sending an enormous one two combination right down the middle, he caught Ruiz flush and dumped him unceremoniously to the canvas. Ruiz needed to recover fast.

Haye sensed an early victory and went in for the kill, bundling the helpless Ruiz against the ropes with a flurry of shots, and then catching him with a rabbit punch that dropped him again. Somewhat bizarrely, not only was the knockout counted, but Haye was given a one point deduction for the foul. The few seconds of confusion gave Ruiz some valuable time to recover and he showed remarkable resilience for man who had not been seriously hurt since his 1996 loss to David Tua.During the next few rounds Haye was likely lamenting not picking his shots to force the early stoppage, as Ruiz quickly got his act together and began moving forward again. Working behind an underrated jab, Ruiz took advantage of Haye’s poor head movement but it wasn’t enough to turn the tide.

By round four, Haye had already established the pace and was dictating the action well. Working at range, the champion threw the occasional jab but worked mainly off the lead right. It was a shot that caused Ruiz problems all night. Ruiz has a reputation of being granite chinned and Haye obliged by testing it at every opportunity; for the most part it held up.

At the end of the fifth round Haye found his mark again, detonating a huge shot flush on Ruiz’s chin, the follow up shots sent him to the ground once more, yet also gave Ruiz grounds to complain about rabbit punching again. The challenger rose at the count of seven and the bell immediately rang for the end of the round – a well timed escape for Ruiz, though he looked more annoyed than flustered by the shots.

The sixth round began as the fifth had left off, a stinging flurry from Haye forced Ruiz against the ropes and he again buckled under the pressure. But as before, the challenger regained his composure fast and began to plod forward again. Ruiz certainly had opportunities to take the fight to Haye; his jabs landed almost at will, yet he constantly followed his man around, rather than cutting of the ring with lateral movement – this would have given him his best shot at wearing Haye down – but he didn’t take advantage.

As the fight moved out of the middle rounds, Ruiz looked content to keep Haye busy with the jab. In a brief change of pace, Haye was forced on the defensive as Ruiz maneuvered the champion into the corner. By this stage of the fight, Haye’s athleticism allowed him to get out of the situation before he could take any damage.

The inevitable end came in the ninth. Haye landed two flush shots causing blood to spray from Ruiz’s battered face. As Ruiz staggered back, referee Guillermo Perez Pineda acknowledged Miguel Diaz throwing the towel in on behalf of the challenger – and called a halt to contest.

Few people have ever truly dominated Ruiz. Tua as already mentioned did so in 1996; Roy Jones outboxed him in 2003. In battering his opponent, Haye joins some esteemed company. Though few predicted a win in such a dominate fashion. Haye was always the favourite going into the fight. And, as before, his win raises big questions as well as satisfying some answers. Most pertinently, how Haye will cope with a jab from either of the Klitschkos? It is the most devastating weapon utilised by the two heavyweight kingpins, and it has been used effectively in dispatching opponents with far better head movement than David Haye showed tonight.

Perhaps Haye’s tactics didn’t account for head movement, and he relied on foot speed to avoid danger. But then this would raise yet another question, will Haye be able to adjust in the face of adversity? If he displays this flaw against either Klitschko, his chances of winning will diminish dramatically. He simultaneously impresses and gives cause for alarm – perhaps this is the key to his popularity and success. Perhaps the questions will only finally be satisfied when he goes up against one or both of the Klitschkos.