While the Hopkins-Jones fallout is still top on the minds of most out of Saturday's action, Ted "The Bull" Sares looks at something that is a bit down the list for most people. British action star Jamie Moore returned to the ring on the off-TV undercard of Haye-Ruiz yesterday, and lost his first fight at middleweight to a journeyman named Sergey Khomitski. While Jones and Hopkins should retire, Jamie Moore might be forced to make the same decision before he's ready.

* * * * * * * *

Jamie Moore is a great kid. A great kid. He and Matt were joking and praising each other. Both of them fought with so much bravery. I really hope that Jamie goes on to do anything and everything that he wants to do because he really deserves it. He showed that incredible bravery which we already knew he had and he showed those ring smarts which I warned Matt about.

--Matthew Macklin's trainer, Billy Graham

After the Hopkins-Jones affair that did neither fighter any marketable good, it seems fitting to pay due to a Brit warrior who may have particpated in his last war.

On the David Haye-John Ruiz undercard, shown on television from round two on with downtime to cover, Safford's Jamie Moore lost his first fight at middleweight to Belarusian journeyman Sergey "The Ghost" Khomitski (now 22-7-1), when Moore failed to answer the bell for the seventh round. Up until the final minute of the 6th stanza, Jamie appeared to be in charge, but then he was hurt by a series of crunching shots both upstairs and downstairs and when the bell saved him, he walked slowly back to his corner. Sometimes, albeit not very often, a fighter has an unwritten pact with his corner, that if he simply no longer has it-if it all suddenly disappears-- he (the fighter) must be saved from himself. With a guy like Jamie who entertained us so many great wars in the past, that's exactly what was required and that's exactly what was done.

This was the same Jamie Moore who stopped Michael Jones in 2005 in a barnburner in which Moore was down twice in the 3rd and Jones was down twice in the 5th and once in 6th and final blistering round. The two had participated in a trilogy during which Moore won the British Light Middleweight Title in 2003.

The same Jamie Moore who fought a classic with Birmingham's Matthew Macklin in 2006 with the British Light Middleweight Title at stake. It was a throwback ebb and flow type of fight in which Macklin controlled the early action but in so doing gassed badly. Jamie then came on and knocked out Macklin via a scorching left and left the tough the fellow Brit on the canvas for several scary minutes. Macklin left the ring on a stretcher but thankfully recovered well. The affable and respectful Moore cancelled his post-fight victory party to visit his fellow warrior at the hospital. He again visited him before he was discharged from the hospital. This fight may well become a part of Brit boxing lore.

This was the same exciting Jamie Moore who beat rugged Sebastian Lujan in 2007, and waxed Michele Piccirillo( 50-4) in 2009 as part of a 12-fight winning streak which ended when he was stopped by crafty Ryan Rhodes (42-4 coming in) last year in yet another epic (and punishing) battle; it was a WBC Light Middleweight Title Eliminator. After six rounds of give and take, the 7th round turned out to be an incredible display of two very tough men firing everything they had and both getting wobbled in the process. But Rhodes finally caught Jamie on the ropes and savaged him until the fight was halted. Jamie was the favorite going in, but struggling with making the weight may have taken its toll.

Now, some fighters seem like walking advertisements for closet classics--guys like a prime Graham Earl, Michael Katsidis, Carl "The Cat" Thompson, Jason Litzau, etc. Jamie Moore is such a combatant. He is the kind of crowd-pleasing fighter you simply have to respect. During several of his fights, I recall the crowd chanting "Moorsey, Mooresy" as he mounted one of his patented toe to toe turnabouts, while his close friend Ricky Hatton would jump to his feet at ringside urging him on.

Saturday's defeat was especially disappointing for Moore who had hoped for a lucrative rematch with Macklin. In the post-fight interview, he mentioned weight as a possible factor, and also hinted at retirement. With a mark of 32-5, he would have nothing for which to be ashamed. He gave us all we could ask for in a fighter; he entertained us with many classic battles--and therein lies the rub. There were simply too many such battles which finally culminated in his being defeated by an unknown journeyman in front of his beloved Manchester fans.

But then, boxing never promised anyone a happy ending.

WBA heavyweight titlist David Haye was successful in his first defense of his belt, stopping former two-time titleholder John Ruiz in the ninth round when Ruiz's corner waved the white towel on the ring apron.

Haye (24-1, 22 KO) dominated the fight from the get-go. Very early in the first round, he put a charge into Ruiz (44-9-1, 30 KO) with a right hand, flooring the 38-year-old veteran. Ruiz went down again in the opening round, but rabbit punches were ruled and a point was docked from Haye. After the bout, Haye admitted it was "a bit of a cheap shot." Ruiz would complain of rabbit punches a few more times in the fight, and while he was right, you can also say that he played a key role in making the rabbit punches happen, too.

Ruiz went down four times total in the fight, but proved his toughness and durability, too, and obviously that he's still a resilient guy. He clearly lost, and the corner stopping the fight was the right thing to do. Ruiz was doing little more than getting beaten up when Ruiz's team decided to end the contest.

Tactically, I thought Haye fought a rather brilliant fight. He moved backwards all night, but that's also because Ruiz was being more aggressive than he's ever been, constantly walking Haye down. Haye seemed comfortable fighting going backwards, and Ruiz never got any real offensive rhythm even though he was dictating where the fight went 90% of the time.

What Haye did that I thought worked especially well was lull Ruiz into thinking he was approachable, at which point Ruiz would come at him a bit haphazardly, often getting tagged with a right hand as a result. Ruiz would then start flicking his jab out on the way in for a bit, but Haye would get him to sleepwalk in again later, and catch him again. The big punches won the fight for Haye, who was simply too dynamic, too powerful, and too explosive for the aged Ruiz.

What happens next with Haye is anyone's guess. It would seem likely that the WBA will want him to fight Nikolai Valuev again. The Klitschkos (either of them) are the fight people want, though, and if Haye had to give up his WBA trinket to make much more money with Wladimir or Vitali, I'm sure he's smart enough to realize that the belt doesn't mean more than the glory of a huge fight and the money that comes with it.

Haye put a very big crowd into the M.E.N. Arena tonight in Manchester, and an enthusiastic one at that. No matter how you feel about him, commercially, he is indeed the total package, or as close as we get to that that anymore. He's charismatic, he's got a star quality, he's powerful, he's fast, he can be a very exciting fighter. And there's money on both sides of the pond. HBO has seemed to be dying for a good reason to put Haye on their network, and the Klitschkos are that good reason. Apart, I don't think HBO is going to bother anymore. Together, they will.

There's also the Arreola-Adamek winner (they fight on April 24), which could be a tremendous fight.

All in all, a pretty fantastic fight for David Haye, and for John Ruiz, the worst overall beating he's ever taken in a fight, and a possible end to his long, successful, and often criticized career.

On the undercard:

• George Groves (9-0, 7 KO) blew past Charles Adamu to win the Commonwealth super middleweight title. Groves made Adamu look hideous. He's got a lot of flaws still (he's only 22), but he's a legitimate prospect for sure.
• Ajose Olusegan (28-0, 14 KO) beat Colin Lynes in eight, when Lynes, who was losing the fight, kept coughing and maybe even dry-heaving throughout the round, then took a knee and was counted out.
• On the untelevised portion of the show, but shown from round two on with downtime to cover, Jamie Moore lost his first fight at middleweight to journeyman Sergey Khomitski, when Moore failed to answer the bell for the seventh round. It's a gutting defeat for Moore, who is a quality, rugged fighter, but appears to be suffering from years of tough fights. He gassed out against Ryan Rhodes in their epic battle last year, and blamed the weight. He mentioned the weight as a possible factor again tonight, and also hinted he may have to retire. At 5'9", he'd have a very hard time going up to super middleweight.

Today at 4pm EDT, David Haye makes his first defense of the WBA heavyweight title against John Ruiz. There will be a full undercard as this is a UK PPV on Sky Box Office. We'll be here with live, round-by-round coverage, scoring and analysis, and then later tonight, we'll be here for Jones-Hopkins II.

Quick Reading: Bad Left Hook's preview ... Bad Left Hook's Last Five Fights analysis ... The Boxing Bulletin's Haye-Ruiz preview ... The Boxing Bulletin's undercard preview

DAVID HAYE		JOHN RUIZ
	Main Event

Since the moment it was signed, I've been one of the minority (but a vocal minority, at that) touting Saturday's WBA heavyweight title fight between David Haye and John Ruiz as an upset in the making, a fight that Haye would absolutely be foolish to look past.

What I'm saying is not that John Ruiz is a great fighter, or that he ever was. He's good, highly competent at the least. He's also tough. The only guy to ever stop him was David Tua, and that was so long ago it might not have even happened, other than it gives the Tua fanboys something to YouTube when they need a fix. To put it in perspective, when Tua and Ruiz fought, Tua was 23 years old. Ruiz was 24. Ruiz was still five years away from claiming his first major heavyweight title, when he beat Evander Holyfield in 2001.

Ruiz, now 37, has eight losses on his record. They are:

1. Sergei Kobozev, 1993, SD-10. This was at cruiserweight.
2. Danell Nicholson, 1994, SD-12.
3. David Tua, 1996, KO-1. I think we've been over how much I believe you can read into first round knockouts. Look, I'm not saying that the Tua KO of Ruiz wasn't legit. Obviously it was. Tua was a monster puncher and he caught Ruiz cold, hard and fast. But it was 14 years ago.
4. Evander Holyfield, 2000, UD-12. Close fight.
5. Roy Jones Jr., 2003, UD-12. Not a close fight.
6. Nikolai Valuev, 2005, MD-12. I think Ruiz deserved the W.
7. Ruslan Chagaev, 2006, SD-12. Close fight.
8. Nikolai Valuev, 2008, UD-12. Again, I thought Ruiz deserved the W.

If you combine all three scorecards from every one of Ruiz's losses to Kobozev, Nicholson, Holyfield, Valuev, Chagaev and again to Valuev, you come out with an average scorecard of 112-110 against Ruiz. That's how close these fights were on the cards. And we're talking about six fights, half of them in Germany against Sauerland and Universum fighters.

I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

For my money, Ruiz did more against Valuev in either of his two fights than Haye really did to the Russian giant when he snatched the WBA strap from his hairy clutches and hopefully saved us from more Integrated Sports PPVs where Col. Bob Sheridan extols Valuev's talents, as if the people watching don't know who he is.

I'm not trying to discount Haye. David is the favorite and he should be. I mean, run down the checklist, and it favors Haye almost all the way.

• Power? Haye.
• Speed? Haye.
• Wear and tear (lack thereof)? Haye.
• Youth? Haye.
• Height? Haye.
• Reach? Hey! It's even.

About the only thing Ruiz can really count in his favor would be experience, which is nice and all but has a way of turning into oldness when 38 and the other guy's 29, and the fact that he's faced a lot of top heavyweights over the years, whereas Haye's best wins are still at cruiserweight, and will still be at cruiserweight even if he beats Ruiz.

It's definitely the best test Haye has had as a heavyweight. Tomasz Bonin was nothing, Monte Barrett was on the very last set of legs his career was going to give him, and Valuev isn't so much a heavyweight fighter as a puzzle for opposing fighters to solve.

Ruiz is a legit heavyweight, a big guy, stronger than he often gets credit for, a puncher surely good enough that questions of Haye's chinniness are relevant for this fight.

Honestly, I don't worry that Haye is too cocky, or that he'll be looking past Ruiz. For all his boisterousness, Haye is no dummy. He talked of knocking out Valuev, but instead he was smart (boring as it was) and stayed away from the big galoot. He's a superior athlete, every bit as good a boxer as Ruiz, and he has far more weapons in his arsenal. He's got legitimate power in both hands (I don't think there's a fighter in the division he can't knock out, and I include creaky old Vitali Klitschko in that), and most importantly, tremendous speed for the division.

And I see the speed being the key to the Haye victory. Ruiz is a smart boxer, can punch some, and I think he'll give Haye some good looks early. But I lean toward David because of the speed. You know who the last guy Ruiz faced that was notably fast? Roy Jones Jr., in 2003. Since then, he's fought Hasim Rahman, Fres Oquendo, Andrew Golota, James Toney, Valuev, Chagaev, Otis Tisdale, Jameel McCline, Valuev again, and Adnan Serin. Not exactly the fastest bunch of guys in the game.

I still think John Ruiz has a very legitimate chance, and I'm very interested in seeing how this fight plays out. But I also think David Haye knows exactly what's on the line here, and how disastrous a loss to old John Ruiz of all the damned people would be for his career. He'll be focused, he'll be smart, and he'll get Ruiz out inside the distance. Haye TKO-10

The following quotes are from a press release, and taken from Ruiz's media workout in Manchester.

Regarding Haye's win vs. Nikolai Valuev: "I was surprised he (David Haye) got a decision in Germany. Luck was on his side. I congratulate him. He did what he had to do and got the win."

On Haye's popularity in the US: "It's still in the beginning. His name is spreading around. He needs to face somebody who's been in the heavyweight division and that's me. He still isn't well known in the United States."

On comparing Haye to Evander Holyfield: "Holyfield's a legend. I can't compare them today. Every fight is difficult because everybody comes to win. That's what makes boxing special."

On changes since he's been had Miguel Diaz as his head trainer and criticisms: "We're still here and hopefully this time around we'll get a win. You're seeing more of the Ruiz from the past - boxing and punching, not holding. How many guys can say they've fought and won the two world heavyweight championships."

On winning the third world title with a victory against Haye and being mentioned with Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield: "It is going to work this time. No matter what they say, they can't take it away from me."

On Haye's talking: "He can talk all he wants but he knows he's in a tough fight."

On an American winning the world heavyweight title: "I was born in the United States and my family is Puerto Rican. I'm a Puerto Rican-American. I've accomplished a lot during my career. I am the first Hispanic World Heavyweight Champion, but I'm an American and I'm bringing the belt back home."

On watching tapes of Haye: "I don't focus on the other fighter, I focus on myself. He's going to prepare himself and use the style he believes will win the fight."

On his experience: "Experience plays an important part but so does youth. We'll see what comes out on top. I have a new team -- trainers Miguel Diaz and Richie Sandoval, and a new promoter, Golden Boy -- but there are still some people who've been part of the team for a long time. I'm at peace, blessed with my family, and I've never been in tune with boxing like this during my career."

On fighting in England: "I've fought here six times (6-0). These fans put favoritism behind them and root for a good fight. I've fought everybody in the world, never avoiding anybody, and I'm very proud of that. I've traveled the world and boxing has been a savior for me."

This Saturday at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, David Haye makes his first defense of the WBA heavyweight title when he faces former titlist John Ruiz, the American veteran best known to most for his fight with Roy Jones Jr., and also well-known in boxing circles for his clutch-and-grab style. Ruiz is generally regarded as one of the main culprits in the "death" of heavyweight boxing, and while I might argue that he gets way more blame than he really deserves, it's inarguable that Ruiz has never excited anybody, so you know, fair enough.

We'll start with the last five fights of the defending titlist, David Haye.

Fight 1: Tomasz Bonin (W-TKO-1 / April 27, 2007)

Though Haye famously reigned as the legit cruiserweight champion of the world (which we'll get to), it's interesting to note that three of his last five fights have been in the heavyweight division. Bonin was 37-1 coming in, but with an empty record. His last fight had been against a guy making his pro debut, and that guy knocked him down in the first round. Also, despite the fact that Bonin weighed in at 231 for this fight (to Haye's 217), he's a smaller guy than Haye, at 6'1" to Haye's 6'3".

This wasn't really much of a fight, and the Sky team went bananas over it as you might expect:

This "serious, serious message to the heavyweights" was followed with a return to the cruiserweight division, but we all know that. The thing is, Bonin fought in Poland. He was a domestic-level fighter in Poland. Overall, just a guy with a fluffy record that looked good for the Sky broadcast, and they could attempt to sell the win as something meaningful for Haye, when in reality it came three years after Fraudley Harrison had stopped Bonin in nine. Haye got him out very fast, because Haye is very explosive and was far too fast for the slow Pole. It's just as simple as that.

Fight 2: Jean Marc Mormeck (W-TKO-7 / November 10, 2007)

Now this was one hell of a fight. Mormeck was the reigning cruiserweight champion of the world, coming off of a couple of cracking wars with O'Neil Bell, fights that were probably the pinnacle of the careers of both Mormeck and Bell, because neither has ever really been the same.

Mormeck, a short (5'11"), strongly built Frenchman (duh), decked Haye in the fourth round, but the Englishman showed a good amount of grit in this bout, and probably deserves more credit for that than he's ever really gotten. Mormeck was 35 and a bit shop-worn at this point, and I wouldn't say Haye beat the best version of Mormeck there was, but would he have? In my estimation, the best Haye almost always beats the best Mormeck, just because I like the matchup for him physically. But Mormeck's run from 2002-2007 in the cruiserweight division was pretty fantastic, with the split two-fight series with Bell, two wins over Virgil Hill, taking Wayne Brathwaite's "0," and wins over Alexander Gurov and Dale Brown.

But this was Haye's night, and he jumped from European cruiserweight titlist to the top man in the world, winning the Ring championship as well as the WBC and WBA title belts.

Fight 3: Enzo Maccarinelli (W-TKO-2 / March 8, 2008)

Much ado about nothing, it turned out, but this was a big, big fight when it happened. Both could punch, the matchup guaranteed fireworks. I thought at the time it would be over really fast or turn into a bloody, back-and-forth brawl between two guys I was sure could throw heavy leather, but maybe couldn't take it quite so well, especially from each other. And, well, it was over fast.

The fight headlined at the O2 Arena, aka Millennium Dome, in London. There was such demand to see the fight among American hardcore boxing fans that Showtime swooped in late and picked up the fight. This was a big cruiserweight fight. Then Haye dismantled him in the second round. Enzo's never recovered, and probably never will. Haye left for the heavyweight division, seeking bigger paydays and further glory. (Plus, he had trouble cutting down to 200 pounds.)

Fight 4: Monte Barrett (W-TKO-5 / November 15, 2008)

Barrett was once a contender. By the time he fought Haye, he was running out of rub to give to up-and-coming contenders. Haye and Barrett didn't disappoint, really, as they put on a wild brawl of a fight, with Barrett stinging David a little and giving all he had, but in the end Haye was way too much fire for him to handle.

I really do like Monte Barrett, and find his career very interesting. I think he could probably put together a hell of a book about his career. He did the usual battering of cans and club guys, then in 1998 faced off with former WBA titlist Greg Page, who was two days shy of his 40th birthday. Page had put together a bit of a winning streak, mostly against club guys in Nashville, but the young Barrett dominated him over ten. This was of course years after everyone from Mark Wills to Orlin Norris, Razor Ruddock and Bruce Seldon had had their way with Greg in the ring.

Monte also got pulverized by Wlad Klitschko in 2000, lose a close fight to Joe Mesi, and got cracks at world titles against Hasim Rahman (interim WBC) and Nikolai Valuev. If he hadn't knocked out Tye Fields in one round back in June 2008 -- for which we should all thank Monte again -- does he even get this fight with Haye? Probably not. He's parlayed the loss to Haye into paychecks against Odlanier Solis (TKO-2 loss) and Alexander Ustinov (UD-12 loss), too. Good for him, but he should really hang it up. I think anything he had left at all, he left in the ring against David Haye. He REALLY tried to win this fight. He knew how much that would have meant. Knocking off Haye might well have meant a title shot for him. It didn't happen, and since he hasn't had near the same determination in the ring.

Fight 5: Nikolai Valuev (W-MD-12 / November 7, 2009)

A gruesome fight. Not as bad as Vitali Klitschko-Kevin Johnson, and not as bad as Valuev-Holyfield, but really, really, really bad. It's also the one common opponent between Haye and Ruiz, and like most, I don't think you can counter either of them as having been particularly "effective" against the giant, but I felt Haye deserves a close win, and I feel Ruiz deserved two wins, both fights going Valuev's way. But I also admit that I think Valuev sucks so much that I barely consider what he does to be "boxing." He's tall. That's it. He's not good at anything but being really tall. Anyone exhibiting anything close to actual boxing is going to win the majority of rounds against Valuev on one of my cards, and maybe that's pure bias and nothing more, but that's the way it is. He's not a boxer. I'm not saying he's an awful person or that he shouldn't be perfectly well allowed to earn the living he has in boxing, but his skills are non-existent. I even think he works really hard to BE better than he is, but he can't do it because his body won't let him.

I rank this as more exciting than Klitschko-Johnson and Valuev-Holyfield (and Klitschko-Ibragimov), by the way, simply because of Valuev's wobbly-legged stagger in the 12th when finally, Haye clocked him with a good one.

What Didn't Happen

Haye signed to fight Wladimir Klitschko in June 2009. That did not happen. Haye pulled out with a phantom injury which was code for Setanta Sports going under. Haye also was close to a deal -- everyone thought it was done -- to fight Vitali Klitschko in September. Instead, he suddenly turned tail and signed to fight with Valuev in November. Haye and Valuev fought on a small afternoon PPV in the States. Vitali Klitschko and Cristobal Arreola fought in Los Angeles in front of a great crowd in the highest-rated HBO fight of 2009.

That might make it seem like whether he likes it or not (and who would?), Haye is at the mercy of the Klitschkos in terms of becoming a bigger star than he is. But a funny thing has happened: HBO appears to no longer care about the Klitschkos. Eddie Chambers, an American, was as legit a contender as Wlad was going to get on March 20, and no TV network in the States picked it up. It ran as an internet PPV.

So does Haye need the Klitschkos? Certainly, if he wants the biggest paydays. But now, I think they need him, too. Vitali's next fight with Albert Sosnowski will probably also wind up on Klitschko.com for $14.99, which is gross overpricing for such a ridiculously lopsided fight.

Now we move on to John Ruiz after the jump...

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With boxing just about to really kick into full swing for 2010, I'm checking my watch every other day or so for the time someone at ESPN, Fox Sports, Yahoo! Sports, Comedy Central, ET Online or the famed site Old Man Who Used to Like Marciano and Hasn't Seen Boxing in 11 Years to chime in and notice, "HEY!"

"You know what would help?!"

"Heavyweights!"

"People always liked heavyweights before."

"With heavyweights, yada yada, Marciano and Louis and Ali and Frazier and Foreman and Holmes and Tyson and Jersey Joe and I guess Holyfield, too, why not?!"

Personally, I think the sport of boxing does just fine without a dominant heavyweight division, but I also don't deny that of course the game could benefit from a headline-grabbing big man. I also don't deny that without the lettuce, a BLT is just a BT.

For those who might not pay close attention, here are some notable heavyweight fights coming your way. I figure after Pacquiao-Clottey one of those "Hey! The heavyweight division is dead!" articles will pop up, so let's burn this out now.

Friday, March 12: Samuel Peter (33-3, 26 KO) v. Nagy Aguilera (15-2, 10 KO)

The night before the big Pacquiao-Clottey show in Arlington, Top Rank will put an appetizer onto the table about a half hour up the road at the Gaylord Hotel in Grapevine. Sam Peter is still best-known for knocking down Wladimir Klitschko three times in a 2005 loss, and has in a lot of ways become a hype job because of that performance, despite the constant harping on Klitschko for having a glass jaw that follows the world champion around to this day. If Klitschko's chin is so bad, what's the big deal about Peter knocking him down?

That was the last time Wladimir looked so much as vulnerable, too. Since then, Peter has stopped four guys, and three of them were bums. The fourth, Oleg Maskaev, was stopped in under two minutes by Nagy Aguilera in his last fight. Oleg, for the record, recently said he plans to box on at age 41, and considering how giddy the WBC has proven to be to hand him mandatory challenger positions before, why not, I suppose.

Anyway, this could be a decent sleeper fight if all goes right. Since signing with Top Rank after losing two straight to Vitali Klitschko and Eddie Chambers, Peter has been slowly rebuilding his career. He's run over Marcus McGee, Ronald Bellamy and the free-moving land mass that is Gabe Brown in his last three. Though not a world-beater, Aguilera could be a fair step back up the ladder in terms of competition.

Most likely, though, he isn't, and Peter will blast him out without much trouble. Aguilera's only credible win is over Maskaev, who is really old and never took a punch all that well, and was caught cold.

Continue reading this post »

Vitali Klitschko has announced that 2010 will be his final year as an active boxer, surprising almost nobody who has followed the careers of the Klitschko brothers.

And the WBC heavyweight titlist really only has one fight on his mind: David Haye.

In typical ice-cold Klitschko fashion, Vitali said, "I only have one belt left to win. So this year, I will hang up my boxing gloves. And I’ll stop visiting different cities to beat somebody’s face in."

The only belt in the heavyweight division that isn't controlled by Vitali or his brother Wladimir is the WBA title currently held by David Haye, who faces John Ruiz on April 3. Should Haye beat Ruiz, the money is going to be there to stage Vitali-Haye, especially with the idea that it could be Vitali's final fight. Unless Haye is genuinely afraid to fight Vitali, there's no way he could pass up the money and the chance to retire one of the best heavyweights of the last 20 years.

Vitali (39-2, 37 KO) was recently in negotiations to face Russian giant Nikolai Valuev, but that went sour pretty quickly when the Valuev side (led by Sauerland Event and Don King) felt slighted in the money department and began making pretty outlandish demands meant only to end the negotiations outright.

The Ukrainian -- who turns 39 in July -- fought three times last year, bashing Juan Carlos Gomez and Cristobal Arreola, and winning a nightmarish 12-round decision in an all-time stinker of a heavyweight title fight against the woeful Kevin Johnson in December.

Vitali-Haye could be an enormous fight in London or in Germany, and I think it would even do very well at Madison Square Garden, though obviously it wouldn't draw the same money it would in London or Germany. I hope if Haye beats Ruiz, it happens, because otherwise Vitali will leave the sport fighting guys everyone knows he's going to beat.

With the lull in boxing right now about to give way to an absolute storm of compelling fights, I thought it'd be a good time to focus on 10 of them that stick out. Not all will be great (or even good) fights, but they all have distinctly interesting storylines, and will help shape what's to come on boxing's biggest stages for the rest of 2010 and into 2011.

Well, except one of them, probably, and we'll lead off with that one.

Honorable Mentions: Andre Ward and Allan Green didn't make the cut, but I suppose that could be an interesting fight if the "good" Green shows up ... Ya like old folks? Bernard Hopkins-Roy Jones Jr. II is for you ... Andre Berto's proposed fight with Carlos Quintana has some spark ... Amir Khan and Paulie Malignaggi could be good, but I'd never watch that over any of the fights on this list ... Tavoris Cloud-Glen Johnson just barely missed the cut, and will almost surely be more enjoyable to watch than at least two of the fights that did ... Koki Kameda's first WBC flyweight title defense against Pongsaklek Wonjongkam will decide the new Ring Magazine world champion at 112 pounds.

10. Israel Vazquez v. Rafael Marquez IV (May 22, Showtime)

About three years ago, I tried to do my bit to help start the hype train for the first meeting between reigning junior featherweight world champion Israel Vazquez and reigning bantamweight world champion Rafael Marquez. I could envision nothing less than a great, knock-down, drag-out fight between the two talented and exciting Mexican warriors.

They surpassed my expectations in the first fight, upped the ante in their second bout, and in their third and supposedly final battle, they put on a classic for the ages. Every time out, their fights got better, culminating in a 12-round war (how could they go 12 rounds?) that saw Vazquez storm Marquez in the final frame to secure a razor-thin decision win, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. It was truly epic -- a word overused now (thanks, World of Warcraft), but perfect to describe the trilogy between these two men.

Like many, I had my doubts about a fourth fight. It seemed, in a way, to cheapen what they'd already done. Too much of a good thing. But with both men now campaigning at featherweight, they still offer one another the most money they can make.

It's a dangerous fight for both in so many ways. Not only that they might lose, but that it could be the last time we see either of them in the ring, or at least fighting on the top levels of the sport.

Vazquez, 32, and Marquez, 34, will forever be connected, boxing brothers in bloodshed and brutality. Like Gatti and Ward, Barrera and Morales, Ali and Frazier, and Zale and Graziano, you won't be able to mention one without quickly mentioning the other. The impact they've had on each others' careers and legacies is immeasurable. There is no Israel Vazquez as we know him without Rafael Marquez, and vice versa.

For all those reasons, I've come around and become quite excited for the fourth fight between the two. They deserve the money, the glory, and the chance to do what they wish with their careers. If their desire is to wage war one more time, then so be it. Bring it on.

Photo by Tom Casino/Showtime

9. David Haye v. John Ruiz (April 3, Sky Sports PPV)

David Haye won a paper heavyweight title from Nikolai Valuev last year in a dreadful fight that has been discussed far more than it really deserves. End of the day, Haye has the belt, Valuev and his team are now making outrageous demands for money with Vitali Klitschko's people, and old John Ruiz -- now with Golden Boy -- is in line for Britain's golden child heavyweight.

I've said from minute one that John Ruiz will be more of a danger to Haye than he's likely to get credit for being, and since he's still being given very little credit at all, I'll say it again. Ruiz is no superstar, but Haye's real (read: current) heavyweight experience is limited to the tremendously shot Monte Barrett and Valuev, who pretty much fights exactly the same no matter who he's against, because he's that limited.

Ruiz is better than Valuev, stands more of a chance at being able to cut off the ring and force Haye into a fight, and has been stopped all of one time in his career, against David Tua in 1996. We're talking 14 years ago, and we're also talking the first round knockout, and one that was exceptionally fluky-seeming. Not that Tua didn't have the power to turn anyone's lights out with a good shot, but 19 seconds? They could fight 100 times and that happens that one time.

I still figure Haye will win, whether or not he really deserves to. Ruiz's luck on scorecards isn't about to start changing at age 38, and Haye is a more dynamic fighter. But David's got the still-questionable chin, and Ruiz is a legit heavyweight who isn't a light puncher.

8. Manny Pacquiao v. Joshua Clottey (March 13, HBO PPV)

We're coming up fast on fight week for this one (though not fast enough by my watch), so I'll just put it like this for now, since we'll have a ton more when the week rolls around. Pacquiao-Clottey is compelling mostly because it has Manny Pacquiao. Clottey isn't exciting, isn't a big name, isn't a great fighter. He's solid, tough, very good, and it takes a lot of balls to fight him. This is a really good fight with the potential for a mega upset, and now that Antonio Margarito has been pulled from the undercard (thanks to that dastardly California commission, if you listen to Bob Arum), the anti-Margarito alliance can rest easy and order. Or choose not to order because the undercard isn't very good and there are too many PPVs again.

7. Arthur Abraham v. Andre Dirrell (March 6, Showtime)

Whatever you thought of the decision in Dirrell's fight with Carl Froch last year, it's hard to not admit that Dirrell showed a real aversion to mixing it up with a guy who can punch. Abraham is tremendous at exploiting weakness in his opponents and striking when the time is right, and his high-guard defensive tactics could shut down Dirrell's offense entirely.

On the other hand, if Dirrell learned to be more aggressive after the Froch fight, there's no doubt he's the quicker, more athletic guy in this fight. Using his movement and his hand speed, Dirrell could frustrate the stoic and generally non-aggressive Abraham and rack up a lot of rounds against the unbeaten Armenian, who has a habit of starting slowly. An Abraham win all but assures him of a spot in the semifinals of the tournament, no matter what happens with him in stage three. A win for Dirrell puts him right back in the tournament's running.

Photo by John Gichigi / Getty Images

6. Cristobal Arreola v. Tomasz Adamek (April 24, HBO)

Who's for real? Anyone? Arreola and Adamek are lining up to slug it out on HBO in a fight that will knock one guy out of immediate heavyweight contention, and the fight looks more interesting than ever right now.

Adamek had a bit of a conditioning scare late against Jason Estrada, running out of gas fighting at his heaviest-ever weight. If Estrada had Arreola's power, would we even be talking about this fight? Arreola can punch, and he can box a little. Adamek is a tough guy, but Arreola would be without question the heaviest hitter he's ever faced, and by a good margin at that. There's almost nothing to not like about this matchup on paper. It's about as close to a guaranteed exciting fight as you can get at heavyweight.

5. Chad Dawson v. Jean Pascal (July 17/24, HBO)

This was originally supposed to be set for June 19, but Pascal is coming off of shoulder surgery and his team says he won't be fit to go until late July. It's a good call by them, as there's no good reason to risk rushing Pascal into a fight against the top man in the light heavyweight division. Dawson is a tremendous boxer, but if you look at his sheet since he stepped up a bit in competition starting in 2006, there's nobody who has Pascal's skill set. Eric Harding, Adamek, Jesus Ruiz, Epi Mendoza, Glen Johnson (twice) and Antonio Tarver (twice) are just not the athletic specimens that Pascal is, and Pascal has proven his toughness and willingness to get hit in order to land. He's just a different animal than Adamek, Johnson or Tarver, who presented their own challenges, but nothing like what Pascal offers. Dawson may well cruise to victory, but if he does so it will be because he's that good. Pascal is about as good an opponent at 175 as Dawson is going to get right now.

4. Carl Froch v. Mikkel Kessler (April 24, Showtime)

Froch and Kessler have talked big leading up to this one, and that will probably just get more fiery as the fight draws near. Kessler fired his trainer after his embarrassingly one-sided loss to Andre Ward last November, while Froch has been dogged by questions of a hometown decision over Dirrell.

Kessler's two career losses have come against "spoilers," guys who Kessler himself described as spoiling his style and giving him fits. Joe Calzaghe and Ward bear little resemblance to the straight-forward, basic style that Froch employs. Kessler himself is about as mechanical and predictable as a top-level fighter gets, but when he's able to work behind his powerful jab, he is highly effective. Froch doesn't figure to give Kessler the headaches that Calzaghe and Ward did, so what is Froch's plan? If it's to use brute strength, I suppose there's a chance he can scare Kessler, but nobody has yet.

With Carl Froch, much as I like him, there is still that sense that he's almost living a fairytale, and that the clock has to strike midnight. It's either that or he's perennially overlooked and underappreciated. The Kessler fight will go a long way to figuring that out.

3. Yuri Foreman v. Miguel Cotto (June 5/12, PPV)

The talk of Miguel Cotto being damaged goods is overdone. He stood up to a barrage against Manny Pacquiao, withstanding two knockdowns and trying hopelessly to find a way back into the fight. Even his running seemed to be tactical in nature, as he kept looking for any way to land something on the Filipino that might slow him down. In the end, Pacquiao stopped him in the 12th when Kenny Bayless decided enough was enough, and rightfully so. But Miguel Cotto is no chump, and to be honest, Yuri Foreman is no dazzling sensation.

Foreman's best win was on that undercard against Daniel Santos, who was rather grossly out of shape, hadn't fought in a while, and hasn't been truly active in years now. Santos was once a very good and underrated fighter, but those days are gone. Yuri Foreman is as basic as a bread and water lunch, and doesn't like being hit. That's not a bad thing, but Cotto is probably going to hit him. What happens then?

As our own Matt Miller has said recently, I expect a quite ugly fight with this one, something that will have the NYC crowd booing the dreadful lack of action and amount of hugging going on. Foreman is pretty good, but on pure talent, not in Cotto's league. That said, size is going to matter, and Foreman is a bigger man. Cotto wasn't a big welterweight by any stretch, and he's going to be a tiny junior middleweight. If Cotto can't hurt Foreman or at least make him nervous, I'd expect to see a lot of Yuri jabbing his way around the ring and scoring points in a boring fight. Or Miguel might just rattle his cage early and go for the kill against a less-talented foe.

Photo by Ethan Miller / Getty Images

2. Kelly Pavlik v. Sergio Martinez (April 17, HBO)

Style-wise, Kelly Pavlik's only real challenge in his career has been Bernard Hopkins, the mental assassin who banged him around and dominated him more through willpower and smarts than physical strength, speed or agility. Martinez is a cutie southpaw who seemed tougher than previously imagined in December against Paul Williams, but Kelly Pavlik's biggest weapon -- the straight right hand -- is the southpaw killer, and Martinez has been there to get hit when he decides to get aggressive offensively. This is the first real challenge Pavlik has taken since the October '08 loss to Hopkins, and Martinez is a legitimate threat to the middleweight crown.

1. Shane Mosley v. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (May 1, HBO PPV)

What more can you say about this one? It's a mega-fight that we've been waiting on for a decade. Finally, these two will get it on and sort out what's what between them.

As expected, WBA heavyweight titlist David Haye will make the first defense of his belt when he takes on veteran American and former titlist John Ruiz on April 3. The fight will emanate from Manchester's MEN Arena, rather than London as previously expected.

Oscar de la Hoya had this pearl:

"With his explosive fighting style, heart, youth and charisma, David Haye is the most exciting heavyweight in the world."

So natural. So natural.

Anyway, Haye had this to say:

It's been 10 years since the heavyweight championship has been fought in Britain, and everyone knows I had to go to Germany to take the title away from Nikolay Valuev. Now it's time to showcase my skills again in front of the great British public. And I'm delighted to have the fight at Manchester's MEN Arena. I've been there on many nights to watch Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, even Mike Tyson, and the atmosphere was always tremendous. I'm looking forward to getting back to what I do best - throwing my trademark 'Hayemakers'."

This is sure to be a Sky Box Office event in the UK, and I'm hoping there's an afternoon PPV imported to the States. If Golden Boy could get Integrated involved (the company that does many of the overseas PPV shows, such as Valuev-Haye, Valuevy-Holyfield, Khan-Barrera, etc.), it might be possible, but given that Golden Boy tends to want to run their own ship away from HBO, they'd probably be producing it themselves, which would mean two pay-per-view events on the same day, as Hopkins-Jones II is going to be that evening from Las Vegas. So we'll see.