Jaime Munguia and opponent Bruno Surace weighed in at 169.1 pounds on Friday for their 10-round bantamweight bout this Saturday, December 14, at Caliente Stadium in Tijuana, Mexico. The event will be displayed live on ESPN+ at 9:00 PM ET/6:00 PM PT.
(Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
Saturday’s fight card: ESPN+ preview
Recently defeated former WBO junior middleweight champion Munguia (44-1, 35 KOs) looks to pick up an easy win in his exhibition against unranked French fighter Surace (20-0-2, 4 KOs).
It’s a step back for the 28-year-old Munguia since his last contest against Eric Bazignan on September 20. It’s possible that given the short time frame, Munguia’s promoters didn’t want to match him with a fighter on the level or better of Bazinjan for fear of him being beaten.
In the co-feature, super bantamweight contender Alan Picasso (30-0-1, 16 KOs) weighed in at 125.9 lbs and his opponent Jehyson Cuello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) weighed in at 124.6 lbs for their Competition in 10 rounds.
Weigh-ins for Saturday’s event on ESPN+ at 9:00 PM ET.
– Jaime Munguia 169.1 vs. Bruno Surace 169.1
– Alan Picasso 125.9 vs. Yehison Neck 124.6
– Jorge Garcia Perez 154.3 vs. Kudratillo Abdukahorov 158.2
– Sebastian Hernandez 123.6 vs. Sergio Martin Sosa 123.2
– Roldan Christian Islands 130.7; John Anakona 129.5
Munguia lost for the first time in his 11-year pro career on May 4 to Canelo Alvarez. Defeat was a long time coming, but Munguia did not fight with the high opposition, which protected him. Fans believe that Munguia was protected all these years to get the big money against Canelo.
Renewal of Munguia: Road to rematch?
Now that that’s happened, the process begins again, with Munguia fighting lower-ranked fighters, hoping to push himself into the No. 1 spot for a lucrative rematch against Canelo. If it’s a gambet, that’s gross, but when you see Munguia go up against Surace and Baziniano in back-to-back fights, you can only draw that conclusion.
“He is a strong fighter. He throws a lot of combos. We have to be careful with that. I have studied it and I am confident in the work we have done. “I will leave with my hand raised in victory,” Munguia said.
“If I knew what round I could knock him out, I’d bet on it.” But I don’t know. It is uncertain. I can tell you now with full certainty that I will be looking for a knockout.”
