David Haye's self-proclaimed mission to clean-up the heavyweight division remains on track after a ninth-round victory over 38 year-old John Ruiz at Manchester's MEN Arena.
As I predicted, Haye landed bombs and Ruiz kept gamely plodding forward until his corner had seen enough and threw in the towel. Ruiz deserves credit for staying upright as long he did as Haye landed with big, trademark rights and lefts from the very first round. I'm not a huge fan of the way Haye keeps his leading left hand dangling down near his waist, but the WBA champion was far to quick for the veteran and he could have had his hands behind his back and still whipped-in hooks faster than Ruiz.
Twelfth Round predicted a knock-out in the later rounds (and you could have got 9-1 on a stoppage in rounds 10,11 or 12) but in the end Ruiz's corner decided, wisely, that their man didn't have anyting more to prove by staying in until the bitter end. It was only Ruiz's second loss inside the distance in an 18-year career. Haye must now sidestep a contracted re-match with Valuev before he can get at one of the Klitschko brothers, probably Wladimir, in a Wembley super-fight later this year.
Across the Atlantic, a 45 year-old Bernard Hopkins beat a 41 year-old Roy Jones Jr in a middle-aged match-up of dubious merit. Hopkins's points victory was predicted here on the 3rd February, as was Pacquiao's recent points win over Clottey at a healthy 15/8. If it's boxing betting tips you're after, look now further than Twelfth Round where in the next few weeks we'll be previewing Froch v Kessler, Mayweather v Mosley and Khan v Malignaggi.
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