Jaime Munguia was knocked out by unknown Bruno Surace in a potential upset of the year on Saturday night.
Munguia went 12 rounds with current WBA, WBC, WBO and IBF super-middleweight world champion Canelo Alvarez only seven months ago.
The pair went toe-to-toe at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and although Munguia was knocked down in round four, he went the distance with one of boxing’s greatest-ever.
Canelo even called Munguia a ‘great fighter’ after they shared the ring in May and the former was awarded a unanimous-decision victory to retain his 168 pound crown.
Munguia was contesting his fourth fight of 2024, and boasts a professional record of 44 wins, with 35 coming by way of knockout – this bout was just his second defeat.
Thousands of boxing fans have branded the fight an ‘Upset of the Year’ contender, as 26-year-old Surace registered only his fifth KO career boxing victory in 28 bouts.
The unbeaten Frenchman made his professional debut in 2016 and was competing outside of his native country for the first time in his career.
Surace had arguably lost every round in Tijuana, Mexico, and was floored in round two, before a clean right hand erased Munguia, who was counted out by the referee.
After his career altering victory, Surace said: “I know that he is an excellent boxer. So, we worked on our counter punches.”
“He is a true warrior. I want to thank him for the opportunity. This was a big experience for me.”
The WBC had aimed for a fight between top contender Christian M’billi and Munguia earlier this week, but that bout is now in serious jeopardy following Surace’s lethal right hand.
Surace is currently unranked by all four sanctioning bodies, something which will quickly change after his career best victory.
“Middleweight is my true weight class,” he added. “But we’ll see if [a rematch] can happen.”
Boxing fans were quick to the scene, with many defending Mexico’s Munguia due to a quick count by the referee.
“Count was definitely a second too fast,” one fan said on X. “Either way [he] probably would’ve got hurt even worse if it continued.”
While another responded: “So much hype for Jaime. That train looks like It’s over.”
A third said: “It was a beautiful right hand that he set up with the jab. Sucks for Jaime, as this could have been avoided had he not left his hand opened.”
Another was quick to defend Munguia for different reasons, citing the fact that this was the 28-year-old’s fourth fight this year.
“Why did his team let him fight four times in one year?” he said.
Munguia has never been stopped in his career, and he’d only been down one other time in his career – against Canelo – but he will now have to go back to the drawing board and re-evaluate his next move.
A rematch with Surace may be Munguia’s best bet if he is hopeful of contending for world titles again down the line.
