From Cherry-Pick to catastrophe: Munguía’s KO loss to Surace derails his career

Jaime Munguía’s decision to fight four times in 2024 may have cost him his sixth-round knockout loss to Bruno Surace last Saturday night at the Estadio Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico. This was a perfect example of a choice gone wrong.

Overconfidence

Former super middleweight world title challenger Munguía (44-2, 35 KOs) he became greedy, decided to squeeze in a fourth fight this year, and the little-known and unranked Surace (26-0-2, 5 KOs) took advantage of that to knock out the Mexican fighter in front of his fans in Tijuana. This was supposed to celebrate Munguía, but what a total disaster.

Munguia looked heavier than usual inside the ring, appearing as if he hadn’t trained as hard as in his previous fights this year against Erik Bazinyan, Canelo Alvarez and John Ryder. Obviously Jaime assumed that he was going to defeat Surace without problems, but man, was he wrong.

You could see that Surace was going to be a problem from the start after he was eliminated in the second round. The Frenchman got up and landed a lightning right hand to Munguia’s head who was like, ‘Wow, where did that come from?’ No one in the 168-pound division throws punches like Surace, and Munguia didn’t see the right punches he threw.

The only reason the fight didn’t end sooner is because Bruno, 26, wouldn’t let go of his hands. Mainly he defended everything Jaime told him, which was understandable. Munguía showed no respect for Surace inside the ring, throwing combinations and looking to impress the Mexican fans with a quick knockout.

Bruno Surace: “I know he is an excellent boxer. So, we worked on our counterpunches,” Surace said. “He is a true warrior. I want to thank you for the opportunity. This was a great experience for me. Middleweight is my true weight class. But we will see if (a second fight against Munguía) can happen.”

An advertising job?

It would be a bad idea for Munguía’s Top Rank promoters to schedule a rematch with Surace. In a second fight, this smart man will counter him into oblivion, and Munguía is not good enough to beat him.

If Jaime possessed a real ability, they could put him back with Surace and hope he would avenge his loss. Mexican fighter Munguía can’t do that. He was always protected during his 11-year career. Munguía’s career would evaporate if he fought Surace again because he would probably lose. The Frenchman is smarter than him and will score another KO.

Munguía has always been a spectacular job. He was never among the killers in any of the three divisions he competed in, from 154 to 168. When he got the fight with Canelo, he lost. He and Edgar Berlanga are the same type of fighters with manufactured records. It was just a farce.

This defeat leaves Munguía’s career in a bad position; He can’t afford another loss. His promoters at Top Rank will need to rebuild him, but they must do so in a way that pits him against notable opponents.

Hardcore boxing fans have already perceived Munguía as a publicity job from day one. He was intentionally pitted against tomato cans throughout his career to get a big-money fight against Canelo Alvarez. Now that Munguia finally fulfilled his goal of landing that mega payday fight against Alvarez on May 4 earlier this year, his promoters are stuck with a seriously flawed guy who still needs to be protected just as he always was.

What’s next?

-Trevor McCumby
– Edgar Berlanga
– Jermall Charlo
– Bektemir Melikuziev

Jaime Munguía will return 🇲🇽🙏 pic.twitter.com/jur4ltbZCu

– Senior Boxing (@trboxing) December 15, 2024

Unreal ending in slow motion 😳 #MunguiaSurace pic.twitter.com/2bE9JOTF6E

– Senior Boxing (@trboxing) December 15, 2024