By Mark Vester
Manchester's hero, Ricky Hatton, is laying his prayers on WBA heavyweight champion David Haye to lead the way for British boxing. Hatton plans to support him on Saturday at the MEN Arena in Manchester when Haye defends his title against mandatory John Ruiz.
Hatton felt Haye put on a great performance last year when he captured the heavyweight title from Nikolai Valuev. He says the best is yet to come. Against Ruiz, Hatton thinks Haye will be far more impressive than he was against Valuev.
“David boxed a clever fight against Valuev,” said Hatton to The Mirror. “Now we’ll start to see the best of him and if he can carry on, he can be a megastar in the heavyweight division. I will be at ringside for the fight and I can’t wait."
A lot of people said it was a bad performance against Valuev, but I thought it was great against someone who is a freak of nature. There will be more chances to hit Ruiz and if he does I think he will stop him. Ruiz is shorter and a bit on the slow side. David won’t have trouble hitting him and I really think he can become the second man to stop him."
He hopes Haye gets past Ruiz and then challenges the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vitali. Hatton says Haye is more than strong and fast enough to beat either of the Klitschko brothers.
“The Klitschkos aren’t the greatest in the world to watch. I hope David wins – and wins in style – so he gets the respect he deserves across the water. David can fly the flag for British boxing. He has a great personality, is exciting to watch and always goes for the knockout," Hatton said.
“The way David punches he has every chance against either Klitschko. If he uses his speed and moves in quick, he could beat them both.”
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