Save a chair, folks. John Ruiz is sidling back to the heavyweight title table.

Already a veteran of 10 championship bouts and one of history's select few with multiple bites of the division's fractured pie -- the "Quiet Man" will meet his verbal converse when he shares a ring with newly minted WBA belt- holder David Haye sometime between now and mid-2010.

Date and site logistics are unclear, but a contract is in place for the fight to occur before the end of May, according to Ruiz's manager Anthony Cardinale.

"The fight with Haye was negotiated and closed before the bouts (in Germany)," Cardinale said. "It is a done deal. Otherwise we would not have agreed to step aside. There will be no further negotiations necessary."

Haye earned his first title as a heavyweight with a majority decision over Nikolai Valuev on Nov. 7 in Nuremberg, where Ruiz toppled European journeyman Adnan Serin in seven rounds on the undercard.

As the WBA's official challenger, Ruiz had been in line for a third match with Valuev, but agreed to defer to Haye in exchange for first dibs if the brash Londoner dethroned the towering 7-footer.

Haye won two scorecards by 116-112 margins and was even -- 114-114 -- on the third.

The Serin fight was Ruiz's first since a split-decision loss to Valuev, nearly 15 months ago in Berlin.

His last win had come in March 2008, via 12-round decision over Jameel McCline.

"John is glad the way things worked out," Cardinale said. "It will be a much more interesting fight for him versus Haye than a third Valuev bout. It is difficult to look good against Valuev, but I also believe that John looked better and scored considerably more than Haye did in the two fights he had against the giant."

Valuev also beat Ruiz by majority decision in December 2005, also in Germany.

However, Cardinale insisted his man has significant support in Europe, which he said provides several options toward an eventual site for the Haye fight.

"There is no venue set for the bout, so it can take place anywhere that makes the most economic sense," he said. "Of course fighting in Las Vegas would be great, but John is 6-0 in London, so we would gladly go there. Germany is also not out of the question, as John has a good fan base coming off his highly controversial losses to Valuev. Most there believe he was screwed in both."

The latter conclusion is not unique in Ruiz's career.

Unbeaten in 14 fights after turning pro in 1992, his first loss came via split decision to then-unbeaten Russian Sergei Kobozev in August 1993.

Another split verdict -- against Danell Nicholson a year later -- was the only other blemish before a memorable 19-second blowout at the hands of David Tua in March 1996 in Atlantic City.

Ruiz regrouped with 11 straight wins, 10 by KO, before a unanimous scorecard loss to Evander Holyfield in the first of their three bouts -- a series which continued with Ruiz winning the WBA title by unanimous decision and then defending it with a draw against Holyfield by the end of 2001.

A successful defense against Kirk Johnson preceded another memorable low point, Ruiz's one-sided loss to a blown-up Roy Jones Jr. in March 2003, in which Jones weighed just 193 pounds to Ruiz's 226 and became the first light heavyweight champion since Michael Spinks to claim a heavyweight belt.

He returned to reclaim the title when Jones went back to 175 pounds and downed Fres Oquendo and Andrew Golota in succession before losing to James Toney at Madison Square Garden, a verdict that was reversed when Toney tested positive for a banned substance.