I need to rewatch it, but my impression was that if you turn your back you will catch one on the back of the head. The ref can sop the fight when a man turns away and if he had done so in the first round that would have caused an outrage. Bit Ruiz gave him that chance. Haye needs to step back and be calmer when looking to finish a man, but he cannot (IMO) be blamed for hitting the back of the head, when a man his turning away during an exchange.
The second knockdown and the last knockdown were blatant fouls. The 5th round was accidental as Ruiz ducked the punch and caught it on his neck. But them two were blatant
Ill elaborate, if your having a punching match and your in full flow and your opponent turns his back the natural reaction is to keep throwing your hands. The blame can therefore be somewhat apportioned to Ruiz.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPFWJct7JlU[/ame] it's clearly not just me that noticed it, look at some of the comments there (not me). for me, the second, third and fourth knockdowns all included deliberate punches to the back of the head. which ones were Ruiz's fault? he didn't turn around or duck or swivel - Haye manouvred to get those punches there.
where does Ruiz turn his back in any of his knockdowns though? if it was a British fighter taking that from some johnny foreigner fans on here would be going mental.
even the irishman commentator said something like..."yeah haye was hitting him in the back of the head...but they weren't hard punches....ruiz is holding his head as a last act of desperation which is good for haye" the commentators were full of shite
they were clear rabbit punches - i don't know why people are making out otherwise or blaming it on ruiz. even haye admitted it afterwards. but it had no bearing on the fight, and haye didn't intentionally go out to do them it was just over zealousness on his part. so no big deal.
Personally I don't want to see boxing go the way football has: turned into a near non contact sport. ala, Hopkins the last night, probably inspired by Dirrell (whether what he did was authentic or not - who knows?!).
For the third knockdown Ruiz clearly turned and the fourth was just a bit of a mangle due to both of their positioning. One cuffing rabbit punch (which really couldn't have done much damage) with the others all being to the side of the head. Hardly Lennox Lewis level stuff (ie - holding the opponent's head and rabbit punching) let alone Hopkins grade fouling.
Ruiz has invented fouls that would make Tony Galento smile! Haye is a rough old boy, trust me. The Klitschko Twins would have been rolling on the floor like Drogba looking for a disqualification. It was a tremendous night between two grown up men having an old-fashioned ruck. Adios.
IMO, Haye had a point deducted because he clearly fouled and the KD had already been called - the KD was legitimate. Only the ropes were holding Ruiz up as a result of a legal punch. The rabbit punches came when Ruiz had fallen, so Haye deserved to lose a point. Ruiz DID keep turning his back as a defence, rather than actually defending himself - and Haye just kept throwing. The ref should have warned Ruiz for turning his back when exchanging. People are making out like this is the first time anyone has ever thrown a rabbit punch. Ruiz made it a regular part of his offence for years - it's a bit late for him to be crying. It amazes me the amount of people who feel they know what a fighter is thinking. I'm not David Haye, I don't know how it feels when your adrenaline's going and your opponent is hurt - I'm pretty sure they'd never plan to seriously injure their opponent. I was looking at the press conference comments from Hopkins before facing Jones on Saturday - I believe he said that Roy's trainer would be the difference between life and death for Roy. How is that 'acceptable' and Haye's tame silly t-shirt wasn't? ****ing yanks and their flexible standards. If Hopkins does it, it's psychological warfare, if a Brit does it - it's classless. Load of wank.