Jaime Munguia and opponent Bruno Surace weighed in at 169.1 pounds at Friday’s weigh-in for their 10-round catchweight fight this Saturday, December 14 at the Estadio Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico. The event will be shown live on ESPN+ at 9:00 pm ET / 6:00 pm PT.
(Credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank)
Saturday’s fight card: ESPN+ Preview
Munguia (44-1, 35 KOs), the recently beaten former WBO junior champion, is looking to get an easy win in his showcase against French fighter Surace (20-0-2, 4 KOs).
This is a step back for the 28-year-old Munguia since his last contest against Erik Bazinyan on September 20. It’s possible that, given the short time frame, Munguia’s promoters didn’t want a matchup with a fighter on par 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 lbs, and his opponent Yehison Cuello (13-2-1, 11 KOs) weighed in at 124.6 lbs for his 10 times contest.
Weigh-in for Saturday’s event on ESPN+ at 9 p.m. 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 Abdukakhorov 158.2
– Sebastian Hernandez 123.6 vs Sergio Martin Sosa 123.2
– Christian Islands Roldan 130.7; John Anacona 129.5
Munguia lost for the first time in his 11-year pro career on May 4 against Canelo Alvarez. The defeat was long, but Munguia had not fought the high-level opposition, which protected him. Fans believe that Munguia has been protected all these years to get a big money fight against Canelo.
Rebuilding Munguia: The Road to Rematch?
Now that it has happened, the process begins again, with Munguia facing off against lesser fighters, hoping to be ranked at the #1 spot for a lucrative rematch against Canelo. If it’s the gambet, it’s off-putting, but when you see Munguia facing off against Surace and Bazinyan in back-to-back fights, you can only make this conclusion.
“He is a strong fighter. He throws a lot of combinations. We have to be careful with this. I have studied him, and I am confident in the work we have done. I will go with my hand raised in victory,” said Munguia.
“If I knew in which round I could knock him out, I’d bet all my money on it. But I don’t. It’s uncertain. I can tell you now with absolute certainty that I’ll be looking for the knockout.
