Shocker! Jaime Munguia Knocked Out By Massive Underdog, Bruno Surace

In the upset of the year, France’s Bruno Surace (26-0-2, 5 KOs) came into the heavily-favored Jaime Munguia’s hometown of Tijuana and knocked him out in the sixth round.

If anyone says they had even the slightest inkling that this may have been a possibility, just punch them in the gut and scream “LIAR” as you fling whatever cold or hot beverage you can find in their face.

A +1200 underdog, Surace was booked to lose to the 28-year-old Munguia in a showcase end-of-year contest to set up what co-promoter Top Rank hoped to be a banner 2025, with a bout against Christian Mbilli for the WBC interim super middleweight title already on the table.

Per this writer, in the lead-up to Munguia-Surace:

“Not much needs to be said of Munguia’s opponent, Bruno Surace, who is there to lose– and, specifically, to lose in spectacular fashion. The Frenchman has an inflated paper record of 25-0-2, but is a converted middleweight with zero power (only 4 KOs) and no experience against world class opposition. In his last five fight, his opponents’ combined record is 42-58-6. Before his last five fights, his level of opposition was even more dubious.”

And in the beginning of Saturday’s bout at Estadio Caliente in Tijuana, Baja California, it looked as though the Frenchmen would, indeed, be little more than highlight material for Munguia’s sizzle reel.

Although somewhat sloppier in technique than usual, Munguia was able to walk through Surace’s offense and bully his undefeated, untested opponent throughout the contest. A minute into the second round, the Mexican would drop Surace hard and, although the underdog would beat the count, it seemed a forgone conclusion that the favored fighter would simply stomp his way to victory before too long.

Well, that totally didn’t happen.

After being pushed back to the ropes in the sixth round, Surace delivered a picture-perfect right hand over a lazy Munguia left that dropped the hometown hero hard and left him in no condition to continue. Despite beating the count, Munguia was out on his feet and the referee wisely waved off the contest as ringside commentators’ screams of excitement pierced through the muffled buzz of fans stunned into silence.

“I know that he is an excellent boxer. So, we worked on our counter punches,” Surace said in the post-fight interview. “He is a true warrior. I want to thank him for the opportunity. This was a big experience for me.”

Surace’s options are now much greater than the “B-side” fall guy role he was booked to play Saturday.

A Munguia rematch is a possibility, as is a return to his natural weight of 160, where the talent pool is more shallow and manageable. It’s even possible that the Marseille native could’ve earned a ticket for the Canelo Alvarez sweepstakes with the crazy upset victory. It’s also possible that he’ll move into Munguia’s spot against Mbilli.

Munguia (44-2, 35 KOs), meanwhile, will have to begin 2025 in rebuild mode.