BRUNO SURACE stunned Jaime Munguia and much of the boxing world Saturday night.
The huge underdog from France hammered Munguia with a picture-perfect overhand right that knocked Munguia flat on his back and out late in the sixth round of a 10-round fight Munguia was winning comfortably at Estadio Caliente in Munguia’s hometown of Tijuana, Mexico. Munguia made it to his feet before he was counted out, but their bout was still stopped at 2:36 of the sixth round because the strong super middleweight contender seemed disoriented and unfit to continue after absorbing that punishing punch.
Munguia didn’t protest the stoppage, which was a sure sign he shouldn’t have been allowed to keep fighting.
Marseille’s Surace entered the ring unbeaten, but his previous two fights were contested at the middleweight limit of 160 pounds. That was among the reasons most oddsmakers listed Munguia as at least a 25-1 favorite to win what was supposed to amount to a showcase in his hometown.
“I know that he is an excellent boxer,” Surace said. “So, we worked on our counter punches.”
It looked like the light-punching Surace (26-0-2, 5 KOs) would wilt in line with the official odds when Munguia’s left hook dropped him beneath a bottom rope in the second round. Surace showed resolve by getting up, though, and began making their bout competitive prior to getting great extension on the aforementioned right hand that enabled him to join Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez as the only professional opponents to beat Munguia.
Munguia vs. Surace (Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
The 28-year-old Munguia (44-2, 35 KOs) fought for the second time since Guadalajara’s Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) unanimously outpointed Munguia in their fight for Alvarez’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO 168-pound championships May 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Munguia’s comeback started successfully with a 10th-round knockout of Armenian-born, Quebec-based Erik Bazinyan (32-1-1, 23 KOs) on September 20 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, California.
The WBC ordered a 168-pound elimination bout between Munguia and another unbeaten contender from Quebec, Christian Mbilli, at its annual convention last week in Hamburg, Germany. Promoter Top Rank Inc., which works with Mbilli and Munguia, had hoped to match them sometime in the first half of 2025 in what was considered a certain “Fight of the Year” candidate.
Munguia most likely will instead attempt to avenge this shocking setback by boxing Surace again in his first fight of next year. “Middleweight is my true weight class,” Surace said. “But we will see if [a rematch] can happen.”
