Jaime Munguia-Bruno Surace
Everything was going according to plan for Jaime Munguia until it wasn’t.
The Mexican super middleweight contender was at home in Tijuana, making his second start since going 12 rounds in a losing effort against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and after halting 32-0-1 Erik Bazinyan in September, he apparently earned an early Christmas present on December 14 in the form of France’s Bruno Surace.
The 26-year-old Marseille native wasn’t a bad fighter, and at 25-0-2 he had the record to make this an appealing matchup for the former junior middleweight champion’s homecoming, at least on paper. In reality, Surace’s best work was done in the middleweight division, he never fought outside of France, and with only four knockouts in his 25 wins, he likely didn’t have the power to trouble Munguia.
Did I add that he got knocked down in the second round, seemingly an omen of things to come? And it was an omen, but not the one anyone expected. Surace rose to his feet after eating a flush left hand that might have finished other opponents, and after weathering the subsequent storm, the Frenchman grew more confident that he had taken his foe’s best.
And he would take some more, but just when it appeared that Munguia was heading toward an impressive finish, one right hand upstairs sent him hard to the mat. As his corner frantically waved for him to rise, Munguia valiantly tried, but was counted out.
Bruno Surace went from unknown B-side to a power player in the space of ten seconds. It was the agony and ecstasy of boxing, and for the man on the ecstatic end of the equation, it was a life-changer.
“I know this fight could change my life, so when I threw a punch, I kept it in mind that it could change my life, so I was 100 per cent focused and motivated by that,” Surace told BoxingScene’s Tris Dixon.
Now he holds plenty of aces in a super middleweight division ruled by Alvarez. The question is, would Alvarez give him a shot to avenge his countryman’s loss, will Surace grant Munguia a rematch, or will he move back to 160 pounds to parlay his newfound celebrity into some high-profile fights? It makes for some interesting debates to kick off the New Year, and while the smart money is on a rematch with Munguia, time will tell for the winner of the 2024 Upset of the Year.
Daniel Dubois-Anthony Joshua
By the time he stepped into the ring with Anthony Joshua in September, Daniel Dubois should have shed the “cautionary tale” tag that had hounded him since his 2010 loss to Joe Joyce. He went 6-1 with six knockouts after that defeat, with the only loss coming to Oleksandr Usyk. He showed plenty of grit since that loss, and he had the IBF title relinquished by the Ukrainian. But, to many, if the going got tough, he was going to get gone, and in the lead-up to the fight at Wembley Stadium, Joshua tried to intimidate and bully his foe, most notably during a “Face Off” filming session.
That was before the bell rang. Once it did, Dubois was the bully, and thanks to four knockdowns, he was the better fighter on this night. The end came at :59 of the sixth round, and while these things happen when the big men of boxing throw hands, few expected Joshua to be the one on the receiving end of things against a young man who silenced more than a few critics in Wembley.
Martin Bakole-Jared Anderson
From the time Jared Anderson turned pro in 2019, he was going to be the future of American heavyweight boxing. Forget the European rule of the titles, Anderson was going to shake everything up. And for a while, he was living up to the role of the great American hope. But as the wins piled up, so did the question marks, with out of the ring issues starting to rear their head.
“My toughest fight is outside the ring,” Anderson told Roy Jones Jr. in a 2023 interview. “My hardest fight so far in life [is] just staying the course and trying to stay true to who I am, but keeping a steady, clear mind to the top.”
In April, Anderson moved to 17-0 with a decision win over Ryad Merhy. Then Martin Bakole showed up in August. The Congo’s Bakole was flying under the radar, despite an impressive 20-1 record and a nine-fight winning streak. That was a mistake, because Bakole’s strength of schedule was far beyond that of Anderson’s, and when the two met at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, the difference between the two prospects was clear.
At 2:07 of the fifth round, 17-0 turned to 17-1 for Anderson, and now the rebuilding begins.
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