Jaime Munguia’s promoters at Zanfer plan to activate the rematch clause to force a second fight against Bruno Surace for the first half of 2025 following super middleweight contender Jaime’s sixth round knockout loss last Saturday night at the Estadio Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico .
Taking on an immediate rematch with Surace is not without risk involved. While it may seem like a smart thing to do for Munguia’s promoters, getting him knocked out again could backfire. It would ruin his career.
Unconventional clause
It is unclear why Munguia’s promoters put a rematch clause in the contract for a non-title fight that he is expected to win easily. The 26-year-old Surace is not ranked in the top 15 by any of the four sanctioning bodies. For a rematch clause to be included for this fight suggests that Jaime’s promoters weren’t completely confident that he would win. He was the A side; they took no chances.
Former WBO junior middleweight champion Munguia (44-2, 35 KOs) came into the fight as the favorite and controlled the action through the fifth round. In the sixth, Surace (26-0-2, 5 KOs) dropped Munguia (28) with a right hand. The referee had no choice but to stop the fight when Munguia returned to his feet as he was in terrible shape.
“I am told that Zanfer intends to use the rematch clause for Jaime Munguía vs. To activate Bruno Surace 2 in the first half of 2025 after the surprising result on Saturday in Tijuana. There will be details in this regard in the next few days,” said Salvador Rodriguez X.
Risks of Rematch
Again, if Munguia gets knocked out again, his promoters’ decision to take a rematch with Surace could prove disastrous. They need to acknowledge the possibility of another loss and what it will do to his already shaky career.
Munguia is popular enough in Mexico, southern California, Arizona and Texas to handle another KO loss to Surace. However, his hit resistance could deteriorate if Surace stops him again.
If Munguia does get knocked out by Surface again, he can still count on getting fights against the likes of Caleb Plant, Edgar Berlanga, Diego Pacheco and Christian Mbilli. In other words, Munguia could be a gatekeeper or trial horse for the younger fighters to gain experience against a faded former world champion.
