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Haye's first title defence against Ruiz set for Manchester

David Haye is ready to raise the volume in Manchester © Getty Images

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David Haye's maiden defence of his WBA world heavyweight title will take place against John Ruiz on April 3.

Golden Boy Promotions confirmed the date and venue of the bout on Tuesday, with Manchester's MEN Arena selected for Haye's homecoming. The Brit fought in Germany to take the title from Nikolai Valuev in November 2009, and he cannot wait to feel the force of home support against Ruiz.

"I'm over the moon about having the fight in the UK," Haye said. "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 Nikolai 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."

The boxing public will expect to see a different Haye from the one that beat Valuev in Nuremberg, where tactics and defence were the orders of the day. Haye's record stands at 23 victories with 21 knockouts, and he intends to make Ruiz his next victim.

"I'll be boxing a completely different fight. What I did against Valuev wouldn't be enough this time around. Ruiz is a pressure fighter, he's not going to outbox me - he'd be mad to try and do that, but I expect him to try and get close, rough me up, take me into the trenches, and I relish that opportunity.

"There's no safety net. Nobody likes to put it all on the line but I thrive on that situation. I think I showed in my last fight that my power at heavyweight is there, I hurt [Valuev] throughout the fight and wobbled the big man. I'm looking forward to getting back to what I do best - throwing my trademark Hayemakers. Ruiz is a come-forward fighter so I aim to get at him, break him down, and take him out in good style."

Haye's ultimate goal is to hunt down the Klitschko brothers at the top of the sport but Ruiz, who has lost to Valuev in the past, is his first mandatory defence. Nevertheless, Golden Boy figurehead Oscar de la Hoya insists 'the Quiet Man' should be taken seriously.

"John Ruiz is a very experienced fighter who knows what it takes to dominate in the heavyweight division and to win when it counts in a big fight," De la Hoya said. "I expect a great fight that fight fans shouldn't miss."

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