by James Slater – Reigning WBA heavyweight king David Haye has promised his fans an exciting fight night on April 3rd, when he will meet mandatory challenger and former titlist John Ruiz in what will be the first defence of his title. Haye has even suggested he will become only the second man to KO “The Quiet Man.” However, just in case the fight isn’t a fan-friendly affair (as, truth be told, has been the case with a number of Ruiz fights over the years) the promoters of the event set for The MEN Arena in Manchester in just over a month’s time have made sure the fans get a good, solid under-card to ensure value for money..
Set to fight in the lead up to the main event that has reportedly done well with regards to ticket sales, according to BoxRec, are hot prospect George Groves, former European champ top-rated 154-pounder Jamie Moore, and crowd-pleasers Tony Quigley, Curtis Woodhouse and Paul Samuels.
Okay, these name may not mean all that much to U.S fight fans, but Groves is one fine prospect indeed, and on April 3rd, after having had just 8 pro fights (all wins, 6 by KO) the 21-year-old super-middleweight will challenge the experienced Charles Adamu for the Commonwealth title. And Moore, never in a bad fight, will make the move up to middleweight, where he will meet the tough Sergey Khomistki. While the name of Paul Samuels will be familiar to all hardcore UK fight fans, as one half of those two incredible fights that took place at middleweight late last year and early this year.
Welshman Samuels fought fellow puncher Cello Renda on those two occasions, and the action was, quite simply awesome – in fight-one especially (for those that don’t know what I’m talking about, type the fight into You Tube now!). Samuels gets his reward by was of a slot on the Haye-Ruiz card, when he will face another fan fave in former British 168-pound boss Tony Quigley.
With other names, Lee McAllister and Carl Dilks also set to appear on April 3rd, the atmosphere and the action really should be quite something. So, even if the main event turns out to be another Ruiz “hug-a-thon” the under-card bouts promise to make up for it. But then again, as the tickets are not exactly cheap for any big fight in this day and age, and due to how Haye-Ruiz will be a pay-per-view event on Sky Box Office, the fans are more than entitled to a stacked under-card to go along with the main event.
Let’s hope we see some excitement and some KO’s to go along with it on April 3rd. One thing is sure, even if the Haye fight doesn’t end with a stoppage, that fight between Quigley and Samuels will!