By Ricardo Lezama 
In what was supposed to be a homecoming showcase, Jaime Munguia was instead on the bad end of a well placed overhand right that knocked out his equlibrium in round 6 of Saturday’s fight in Tijuana, Baja California. Whoever had the odds stacked so high against the undefeated visitor, Bruno Surace, must’ve made out like a bandit for betting 100 dollars on the underdog. Surace entered the ring as an undefeated and experienced, but relatively low risk boxer from Marsailles, France.
The fight took place in the home of the Tijuana Xolos soccer team, ‘Estadio Caliente’. The fanfare was so heavily that of a homecoming that the problem likely resides entirely on Munguia’s team, not insider bets. Nothing could be more celebratory. For local boxing diehards, Jimmy Lemon Jr. was in the mix as the announcer, Julio Cesar Chavez was also present to narrate the fight for the Mexican TV Azteca broadcast and the local pressure trickled in after the David Picasso fight. Everything was set for the second most popular boxer to reign in his hometown just as his Top Rank contract begins to set into gear.
Is Munguia Shot?
The fight began as the ESPN US based Spanish broadcasters anticipated: a procedural event to welcome Munguia back into the W column after one recent win in his post-Canelo payday career. In fact, David Picasso’s KO was noted as a footnote despite its merit to the ‘inevitable’ Munguia victory of the night so confidently forecasted.
For his part, David Picasso knocked out a last minute replacement with a vicious bodyshot. In his post fight interview, Picasso did well to note that Munguia’s rival for the night was also formidable due to his olympic pedigree. He went so far as to label the night as a potential test for Munguia, but measured his comments by saying he expected a Munguia decision. Ironically, the announcers later in the broadcast doubled down on their certainty of a Munguia win by KO! Their lack of familiarity with the boxer may have been a factor but, perhaps, they overestimated Munguia’s lack of defense.
Round by Round
Munguia seemed plump and ready for a KO. In the first round, there was some complaint about a shot in the back of the head from Jaime, but that had no merit. Just a riled up headliner ready to get into his power shots and angered that Bruno simply didn’t come to give up his undefeated. Both fighters, in fact, looked fairly round as if they had rehydrated plenty with Bruno not giving anything up.
In fact, the first round the commentators gave to Surace noting his combinations looked clean.
In round 2, Munguia was able to land a crisp left hook on the French boxer, and with 2 minutes left that should have been the end of him. Astutely, Surace took a few seconds on his knees to recover and then approached the referee to allow him to continue. After recovering, the next minute he spent countering and moving laterally away from Munguia. Nevertheless, Munguia tacked on some shots to his body and continued seeking the KO.
In round 3, Surace landed some excellent combinations, rapidly on a Munguia whose head was fixed or frozen in place and open to the second follow up shot. Notably, in the last 10 seconds.
In round 4, the same strategy, Brunello was able to pivot away shortly after landing combinations on Munguia’s come forward strategy. Surace’s closed high guard allowed him to either counter or avoid the battering from Jaime which was able to somewhat dissipate Munguia’s body attack. It was here that Bruno Surace’s counters were starting to wear down Jaime’s greedy strategy which left him overexposed: an uppercut showed Bruno’s team that coming forward after a good high guard was the key.
In round 5, the straight right hand continues to land for Surace which is foreboding the eminent right hand that will land flush on the chin.
In round 6, Jaime Munguia’s strategy is predictable and Surace has shown speed basically imitating Canelo’s high guard with his own reach and resistance to his credit. The counter earned him his victory.
There has to be some questioning of why did Munguia’s team want to fight so quickly after yet another grueling bout that he had just a few short months ago. While many within the Top Rank team may view the risk initially as minimal – the visiting Surace had only 3 KO’s in his record – no one can be certain that there is no potential upset risk with any fighter.
Many may be quick to dismiss Munguia’s career, but there is likely a few factors that should be reviewed. Munguia’s fighting style and proclivity to engage in exchanges that leave his head super exposed needs to be changed. Munguia is over 6ft tall, but hunches down and has no visible defense ever but he is so much of a swarmer that he can not be dismissed for most opponents who wince at the pressure. Perhaps, revisiting his style and not exposing his head as much would be a good starting point for rebuilding Jaime’s style.