Bruno Surace vs Jaime Munguia Preview December 14th, 2024
Former WBO Junior Middleweight Champion Jaime Munguia of Mexico fights for the fourth time this year as he’s set to clash with unbeaten Bruno Surace of France this Saturday, December 14th. The 10-round super middleweight contest from Tijuana, Mexico can be seen live on the ESPN + platform in America while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it in Sky Sports +. Munguia last boxed in September when he stopped Erik Bazinyan in the 10th round. He suffered his lone career defeat in May when he dropped a unanimous decision to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in a shot at the undisputed Super Middleweight Title and also fought in January when he stopped John Ryder in the ninth round to defend his WBC Silver Super Middleweight Title. Surace’s last outing was a year ago when he halted Jhon Jader Obregon in the 12th round.
Surace vs Munguia Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Bruno Surace +1100
- Jaime Munguia -2500
My Pick
The 26-year-old Surace fights out of Marseille, France and enters the ring with a near-perfect mark of 25-0-2 with just 4 Ko’s. He’s boxed 165 rounds since making his pro debut in 2016 and stands 6-feet-tall with an unlisted reach. He carries hardly any significant power at all in his punches with a current knockout ratio of just 16 per cent and has recorded just two stoppages since December, 2019. In addition, just eight of his 27 opponents entered the ring with a winning record so he’ll be taking a gigantic leap in class against Munguia.
Since turning pro Surace has captured the vacant French Middleweight Title and won the vacant European Silver Middleweight Crown in his last fight with the win over Obregon. Surace has fought both as a a middleweight and a super middleweight as a pro. His pro debut resulted in a four-round draw and his other draw was a six-round affair in his fifth pro outing. This will be Surace’s first pro bout outside of his native France.
The 28-year-old Munguia of Tijuana definitely likes to stay active as this will be his 46th fight since turning pro in July, 2013 when he was a teenager. He enters the contest with a fine mark of 44-1 with 35 Ko’s with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Alvarez earlier this year after being momentarily dropped in the fourth round. Munguia first made a name for himself against Sadam Ali when he stepped up in class and stopped him in five rounds in May, 2018 for the WBO Jr. Middleweight Title.
He then defended his belt against Liam Smith, Brandon Cook, Takeshi Inoue, Dennis Hogan and Patrick Allotey before moving up to middleweight. At 160 lbs, he stopped Gary O’Sullivan in the 11th round in 2019 and then halted Tureano Johnson after six to win the vacant WBO Inter Continental Middleweight Title. He stopped Kamil Szeremeta after six rounds before beating Gabriel Rosado by unanimous decision and then halting D’Mitrius Ballard, Jimmy Kelly and Gonzalo Coria.
Some of those fights highlighted Munguia’s defensive shortcomings but that’s a part of what makes him so exciting. The other part of his fan-friendly style is the fact he has dynamite in his fists as 79.6 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. Munguia reportedly went 128-10 in the amateurs and now has 221 rounds of pro experience under his belt. He entered the title fight against Sadam Ali in 2018 as a hungry boxer who wanted to make a name for himself on the world stage and he certainly did that.
However, he struggled against Dennis Hogan and Takeshi Inoue as he went the distance with both of them and took quite a few shots. He also had trouble making the 160 lb weight limit and after several outings as a middleweight the 6-foot-tall Munguia took his 72-inch reach up to super middleweight against Kelly but then moved back to middleweight to fight Gonzalo Coria but moved north again. He beat Sergiy Derevyanchenko and John Ryder at super middleweight last year before meeting Alvarez and appears to be staying at 168 lbs for the time being.
Prediction…
There’s no doubt Surace has a great record but in reality this could be a bit of a mismatch. He simply doesn’t have enough sting in his punches to keep Munguia at bay and has faced lower-level opposition in his career so far. Munguia will utilize his power and aggressiveness in front of his hometown fans and should easily win this fight due to his power, chin and experience. The best bet here is to take Munguia by stoppage.
Munguia has the experience, power and aggressiveness.
Play: Munguia -2500 @ BetOnline.ag
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Bruno Surace betting • Jaime Munguia betting