Vested interest in Valuev-Haye

WBA Title Fight for former champ Ruiz

“David vs. Goliath” PPV card live Saturday from Germany

NUREMBERG, Germany  – The most interested spectator Saturday in Versicherung Arena for the WBA heavyweight title fight between defending Nikolai “The Russian Giant” Valuev and challenger David “The Haymaker” Haye will be former 2-time WBA title-holder John “The Quietman” Ruiz.

Ruiz (43-8-1, 29 KOs), the WBA top contender, agreed with the promoters for Valuev and Haye to “step aside” as the WBA “Official Challenger."  By defeating ex-IBU champion Adnan “Aachen Assassin” Serin (19-10-1, 7 KOs) in Saturday’s 10-round co-feature on the “David vs. Goliath” Pay-Per-View event, he is guaranteed a title bout against the Valuev-Haye winner by the end of May, 2010.

Valuev-Haye is promoted by Wilfried Sauerland’s Sauerland Event and its Managing Director, Christian Meyer, in association with Don King Productions. The “David vs. Goliath” show  is being distributed in the United States and Canada by Integrated Sports for live viewing at 3 PM/ET – 12 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, TVN, DISH Network, Viewer’s Choice, Shaw PPV and Bell TV for a suggested retail price of only $24.95. A replay will be shown that same night at 9 PM/ET, 6 PM/PT.

Ruiz doesn’t necessarily care who wins the title fight between Valuev (50-1, 34 KOs), who “The Quietman” has dropped two close decisions to in Germany, and London-based Haye (22-1, 21 KOs). He will be watching Valuev-Haye closely, though, after his scheduled PPV-opening bout against Serin.

“I’m 0-3 in Germany and 6-0 fighting in England,” Ruiz joked, “so I guess I’d rather fight Haye. “I’m really looking forward to this fight. I know no fight is easy and that I have to get past this one to get the winner of Valuev-Haye. I know there’s another world title fight in the horizon for me, but I have to win this fight to get the next one.

“I’m very happy that my fight is going to be on pay per view in North America. My fans and media there haven’t been able to watch my last few fights because they weren’t televised there. They think I still fight the same way (clutch-and-grab), but I’m much more aggressive, and now they’ll be able to see how much I’ve improved. I’ve been working hard the past three months with my new head trainer, Miguel Diaz, and assistant (former WBA bantamweight) Richie Sandoval. Somewhere along the line, I got away from the basics, and we’ve been working in that area. I had been leaning in and landing too close to my opponent, which resulted in a lot of clutching and grabbing. We’ve improved my style; I’m more aggressive now, moving more and getting hit less.” 

Additional undercard bouts and highlights will also air on PPV. Two other former world champions are on the card, heavyweight Sergei Liakhovich (23-3, 14 KOs) and cruiserweight Kelvin “Concrete” Davis (24-10-3, 17 KOs) vs. Jeremy “The Best” Bates (22-16-1, 18 KOs) and unbeaten IBF No. 10 rated Alexander Frankel, respectively. Undefeated WBC & WBA No. 3 rated cruiserweight Francisco “The Wizard” Palacios (18-0, 11 KOs) is also on the undercard versus DeLeon Tingsley (9-4-1, 5 KOs).

For more information about the Valuev-Haye PPV go to www.integratedsportsnet.com.

Integrated Sports is North America’s leading distributor of International Pay-Per-View and Closed Circuit sports events is Integrated Sports. Among the many events brought to North American viewers by Integrated Sports include World Championship and world-class boxing matches featuring Ricky Hatton, Christian Mijares, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones, Jr., Ivan Calderon, Rocky Martinez, Nicolai Valuev, Amir Kahn, Marco Antonio Barrera, Arthur Abraham, and Ruslan Chagaev. In addition, Integrated Sports has distributed numerous International soccer matches showcasing teams like Club America of Mexico and the National Team of Argentina, and World Championship and world-class mixed martial arts shows featuring Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia, Bobby Lashley, Bob Sapp, Jeff Monson, and Roy Nelson. For more information on upcoming Integrated Sports events visit www.integratedsportsnet.com.

Don King Productions has promoted over 500 world championship fights with nearly 100 individual boxers having been paid $1 million or more.  DKP also holds the distinction of having promoted or co-promoted seven of the 10 largest pay-per-view events in history, as gauged by total buys, including three of the top five:  Holyfield vs. Tyson II, 1.99 million buys, June 1997; Tyson vs. Holyfield I, 1.6 million buys, November 1996; and Tyson vs. McNeeley, 1.58 million buys, August 1995.

DKP has promoted or co-promoted 11 of the top 20 highest-grossing live gates in the history of the state of Nevada including five of the top seven: Holyfield vs. Lewis II, paid attendance: 17,078, gross: $16,860,300 (NOTE: Also second-highest live-gate gross for any event in the history of the world.), date: Nov. 13, 1999; Holyfield vs. Tyson II, paid attendance: 16,279, gross: $14,277,200, date: June 28, 1997; Holyfield vs. Tyson I, paid attendance: 16,103, gross: $14,150,700, date: Nov. 9, 1996; Tyson vs. McNeeley, paid attendance: 16,113, gross: $13,965,600, date: Aug. 19, 1995; and Trinidad vs. De La Hoya, paid attendance: 11,184, gross: $12, 949, 500. Sept. 18, 1999.