By: Sean Crose
Jaime Munguia returned to the ring in his native Mexico Saturday night, as he faced the widely unknown Bruno Surace in an ESPN main event. The 10 round super middleweight affair against the 25-0-2 Surace was seen as a something of a stay busy fight for the popular 44-1 Munguia. Marseille’s Surace, however, clearly had plans of upsetting the figurative apple cart.
The first round appeared to be a somewhat slow affair until Munguia seemed to almost hurt his man before the bell. A thunderous Munguia left put Surace down in the second. Surace beat the count, but Munguia went straight to the body. Surace was game, though, willfully trading with Munguia when it was clear he was in trouble. A slip put Surace back on the mat early on in the third. He got up, but Munguia went right back after him. Not that he was rushing. He was simply walking his opponent down.
Surace tagged Munguia hard in the closing minute of the fourth. He wasn’t winning the fight, but the man was certainly game. The fifth was rather plodding, but not without entertainment value. Munguia banged away at Surace on the ropes, 70s era George Foreman style. Surace took the assault well, but Munguia didn’t appear to be getting gassed. The sixth was essentially a replay of the fifth…until a powerful right suddenly sent Munguia down – and out.
The knockout was so sudden, so unexpected, that it wasn’t hyperbole to call it shocking. With a single punch, an obscure French fighter let the world know exactly who he was. As the ESPN broadcast team smartly pointed out – this was only Surace’s fifth knockout in 25 fights. Ultimately, the bout may be seen as a prime example of how timing and accuracy can literally end a match in seconds.
It’s hard to tell where Munguia will go from here. His defeat on Saturday was so definitive that excuses won’t be easy to make for the now 44-2 fighter (not that Munguia is the type to make excuses anyway). With that being said, any fighter can be the victim of a nearly perfectly placed, well delivered shot. As for Surace – the man is currently the toast of boxing, and deservedly so. He’s literally an overnight sensation. The question for Surace now is, whose next? The answer will likely present itself soon enough. For now, though, the guy has every right in the world to sit back and savor a victory that’s put the world of boxing on its heals.
