British Heavyweight David Haye Squares Off with John Ruiz of US

WBA heavyweight champion David Haye of the United Kingdom squares off with John Ruiz of the United States Saturday at the MEN Stadium in Manchester England.

David Haye who just took the WBA Heavyweight championship belt from Russian Nikolai Valuev, could bring back the heavyweight division to new heights in popularity to match the good old days of Ali, Foreman, Tyson, Frasier and Holyfield.

Those days the heavyweight division had the monopoly of boxing dollars, making millionaires out of Ali and company. Haye-Ruiz is the first world heavyweight title bout to be held in Britain for nearly ten years, since Lennox Lewis beat South African Francois Botha, and will be watched by a sell-out crowd of 19,000 at the MEN Arena in Manchester.

The Londoner insists he is not taking victory over Ruiz for granted and even considers him a more awkward opponent than 7ft 2in Valuev. "I learned the lesson not to be complacent a long time ago," added Haye, whose only professional defeat came when he was stopped in the fifth round by fellow Briton Carl Thompson.

"I can close my eyes and can still feel the pain of that defeat. I don't want to go down that road again. A former two-time WBA heavyweight champion. the 38 years old John Ruiz is confident of snatching Haye's WBA heavyweight belt.

The American boxer who currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada has a professional boxing record of 44 wins, eight losses and a draw. Ruiz has fought big name heavyweights like Evander Hollyfield, Niccolai Valuev, Roy Jones, Jr., among others.

(original article appeared @ Digital Journal )