When it comes to the awards for both KO of the Year and Upset of the Year, both may have been decided last night in Tijuana, Mexico. Local hero and former Canelo Alvarze challenger Jaime Munguia was shockingly stopped in the sixth round by huge underdog and career middleweight Bruno Surace, a man who is not at all known as a noted banger.
After going down himself in round two, this from a Munguia left to the head, Surace of Marseilles in France managed to hang in there. But it was one-way traffic in the Mexican’s favour. Until a stunning turnaround was witnessed in round six. Surace, who is unbeaten at 26-0-2(5) but had never previously met anybody of Munguia’s class, completely turned the fight on its head and did the same thing to Munguia’s career with a right hand that dropped the star fighter. Heavily. With Munguia going down on his back.
Try as he might to haul himself up, Munguia was gone. It was over. So, now what? Again, those awards, FOTY and KO of the Year may be handed to this fight, but what about the future for both men in the ring? There is already talk of a rematch, and maybe Munguia is certain he was the victim of a lightning being caught in a bottle type situation last night, one that will not happen again.
There are not too many other obvious next fight options open to Munguia, 44-2(35). For Surace, who will no doubt receive a hero’s welcome when he gets back to France, the immediate rematch also seems to be the best, most lucrative option open to him.
Who wins if these two do fight again? Is Munguia done as an elite level fighter at age 28? Is Munguia’s chin no longer reliable? Or was 26 year old Surace just lucky last night?
It was high drama in Tijuana, and once again this great sport of ours threw out a shocker, the kind that keeps us coming back for more and more and more.
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