Jaime Munguia and his opponent Bruno Surace weighed in at 169.1 pounds at Friday’s weigh-in for their 10-round bantamweight bout this Saturday, December 14, at the Estadio Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico. The event will be shown live on ESPN+ at 9pm ET/6pm PT.
(Credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank)
Saturday’s Fight Card: ESPN+ Preview
Recently beaten former WBO junior middleweight champion Munguia (44-1, 35 KOs) is looking for an easy win in his showcase against France’s non-top-level fighter Surace (20-0-2, 4 KOs).
It’s a step back for the 28-year-old Munguia from his last fight against Erik Bazinyan on September 20. It’s possible that Munguia’s promoters, given the short time frame, didn’t want to match him up against a fighter on the level or better than Bazinyan for fear of him getting beaten.
In the co-feature weights, super bantamweight contender Alan Picasso (30-0-1, 16 KOs) weighed in at 125.9 pounds, and his opponent Yehison Cuello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) weighed in at 124.6 pounds for their weight . 10-round competition.
Weigh-ins for Saturday’s event on ESPN+ at 9pm ET.
– Jaime Munguia 169.1 vs. Bruno Surace 169.1
– Alan Picasso 125.9 vs. Yehisonnek 124.6
– Jorge Garcia Perez 154.3 vs. Kudratillo Abdukakhorov 158.2
– Sebastian Hernandez 123.6 vs. Sergio Martin Sosa 123.2
– Christian Islands Roldan 130.7; John Anacona 129.5
Munguia lost to Canelo Alvarez for the first time in his 11-year professional career on May 4. The defeat was long overdue, but Munguia wasn’t fighting at a high level, which protected him. Fans believe Munguia has been protected all these years to get a big money cash-out fight against Canelo.
Rebuilding Munguia: The Road to Rematch?
Now that that has happened, the process begins again, with Munguia beating lesser fighters in hopes of getting the No. 1 spot for a lucrative rematch against Canelo. If it’s the game, it’s hideous, but when you see Munguia go head-to-head against Surace and Bazinyan, 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’ve studied him, and I’m confident in the work we’ve done. I will walk away with my hand raised in victory,” Munguia said.
“If I knew in which round I could knock him out, I would bet all my money on it. But I don’t know. It’s uncertain. I can now tell you with complete certainty that I will be looking for the knockout.”
