Haye has enough to crush Ruiz

David Haye will defend his WBA heavyweight title this weekend against the 'Quiet Man' John Ruiz. The last person I can remember applying that label to themselves was Iain Duncan-Smith and look at what happened to him.
When the fight was first announced I thought at the time, and I still think, that Ruiz would be a tailor-made opponent for Haye. As a heavyweight he's on the small side and at 6ft 2in he's an inch shorter than the champion. Ruiz is now 38 years old and never possessed the fastest hands in the business even when he was in his prime. On the face of it then, the Hayemaker should walk straight through the challenger and add a 22nd knock-out victim to his CV in what is only his 25th fight. The bookies reflect that belief and Bet365 offer a best-priced 8/11 on a Haye victory coming by way of KO, TKO or DQ.
Having said all that, I will put the case for the defence. Ruiz has lost eight times in his 54-fight career but has only been stopped once: an astonishing ten-second destruction at the hands of the 5ft 10in New Zealander David Tua back in 1996. Tua went on to challenge Lennox Lewis for the heavyweight world championship, losing on points. Coincidentally he returns to action this Friday against, ahem, Friday Ahunanya for something called the WBO Oriental heavyweight title.
But going back to Ruiz, he has fought 26 times since the Tua nightmare and has never been stopped, including three epic battles with Evander Holyfield which all went the distance and ended in a win, a loss and a draw. Crucially, 11 of Ruiz's last 15 fights have gone to the scorecards and he has the experience and sheer awkwardness to make Haye's night difficult. Ladbrokes and a few others offer 11/4 on a Haye points win which is good value but I still have a sneaky suspicion Haye will land at least one of his Hayemakers during the course of the night and it will be interesting to see whether Ruiz's 38 year old legs can survive the wobble. My guess is they won't, especially if it comes late on, and Bet365's 9-1 on a Haye knock-out coming in rounds 10,11 or 12 is a real tempter.

Goodbye 'Arry

Sad news has just reached me that Harry Carpenter, the BBC's legendary boxing commentator, has died at the age of 84. Harry will probably be best remembered for the double act he formed with Frank 'D'ya know what I mean 'Arry?' Bruno (pictured above). There's some great footage here of Frank's heavyweight title fight with Tyson in 1989 and the moment when, for once, Harry let his professionalism slip and shouted : "Get in there Frank"- as Bruno landed a left hook flush on Tyson's chin. There's also a nice film of Harry verbally sparring with a young Cassius Clay ahead of his trip to London to fight Henry Cooper.
How strange that both Harry and his ITV counterpart Reg Gutteridge should die in the same year, within months of each other, and both at the age of 84. They will both be greatly missed by the sport of boxing and a little of that magic of yesteryear has been lost forever.

Preview: Pacquiao v Clottey

A big sense of 'what if' hangs over this fight because if everything had gone to plan this would have been the big one, the fight every fan really wanted to see: Pacquiao v Mayweather. But when negotiations broke down earlier this year the Pacquiao camp alighted on Clottey as a worthy opponent for the Pac-Man while Mayweather has agreed to fight 'Sugar' Shane Moseley in May.

Still, now the Pacquiao fight is upon us, there's a genuine sense of excitement as there is every time this pocket powerhouse steps into the ring. His opponent, the Ghanaian Joshua Clottey, is strong and won't go down easily in the manner of Ricky Hatton. And as Boxing News's Tris Dixon reports, he could enter the ring at anything up to 165 pounds, making him easily the biggest opponent Pacquiao has ever faced.

Clottey has only lost three times in 38 fights and has never been knocked out, losing on points to Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito and suffering a disqualification against Carlos Manuel Baldomir at Wembley Arena back in 1999. Having said that, Pacquiao has never looked better according to coach Freddie Roach and was in devastating form against Cotto last time out. But this is only Pacquiao's second fight at welterweight and Cotto was just two minutes away from going to the scorecards when Pacquiao overwhelmed him with a flurry of high speed punches in the twelfth round.

Clottey believes that Pacquiao has been distracted by the Mayweather business and the fact that he is contesting a congressional seat in his native Philippines in May, something Manny vigourously denies.

However I wouldn't be surprised if Clottey goes the distance and with the bookies making Manny a best-priced 1/6 favourite overall I think the 15/8 on offer for a Paquiao points victory with Skybet, Paddy Power or Ladbrokes represents good value.

Is Valero the new Duran?

I recently finished reading Christian Giudice's excellent biography of Panamanian legend Roberto Duran: Hands of Stone The Life and Legend of Roberto Duran.
Duran, in case you didn't know, was the all-action lightweight champion of the world in the 1970s who moved up the weights to fight a serious of epic battles against modern greats like Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler and Tommy Hearns.
His story is well worth reading, even for non-boxing fans, and Duran comes across as a larger-than-life character whose rise from poverty to the dizzy heights of Vegas and beyond is the stuff of boxing legend.
Unfortunately, Duran was generous to a fault, and gave away or spent the millions he made from boxing. He fought on well past his prime and finally retired after a car crash in 2001 at the age of 50 having won an astonishing 103 professional fights.
By that time thoughts had already turned to who would be his natural successor. In some ways, the most obvious comparison stylistically is with Manny Pacquiao. The Filipino's journey up the weight divisions from Fly- to Welterweight whilst retaining his phenomenal punching power has echoes of Duran's story. But another man in the frame is the current lightweight champion, Edwin Valero.
Like Duran, Valero spent the early part of his career smashing his way through domestic opposition of sometimes variable quality. After 27 fights the Venezuelan has an enviable 100 per cent knock-out record and recently retained his WBC title with a ninth round stoppage over number one contender Antonio DeMarco (despite receiving a huge gash across his forehead in the second after DeMarco accidentally elbowed him).
The comparisons between the two Latin fighters don't end there. Both men had absent fathers from a young age: Valero's old man left when he was seven, Duran's father - a Mexican-American soldier - left when he was even younger. Both men are national heroes in their home countries and while Valero is wrapped in the paternal embrace of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, Duran was exploited by his country's own military strong men. Finally, both are known for their exuberant, some might even say, reckless personalities and no-holds-barred fighting styles.
However, in the cold light of day, I don't see Valero becoming another Duran, although I believe he has some great qualities and a lot left to achieve in the sport. At this stage of their respective careers, Duran had won his first 27 fights by the age of 20, while it's taken Valero, 28, eight years longer to reach 27-0. On the flip side, Duran picked up the lightweight crown in his 29th fight against Scotland's Ken Buchanan, while Valero has already made two successful title defences.
Duran, known as Manos de Piedra to his many fans, had a reputation as a bit of a wild man, able to throw bombs with both hands but people sometimes forget he also possessed superb defensive skills. Valero certainly has heavy hands - although it's debatable whether he could knock out a horse as Duran is reputed to have done - but at times his defensive skills are lacking and the suspicion remains he could be found wanting against a high-quality opponent. Whatever happens, he's one to watch out for because, like Duran, his career will never be boring.