stunner: Bruno Surace KOs Jaime Munguia in 6th place

By: Sean Crose

Jaime Munguia returned to the ring in his native Mexico on Saturday night, facing the largely unknown Bruno Surace in an ESPN main event. The 10-round super middleweight affair against the 25-0-2 Surace was seen as something of a challenging fight for the popular 44-1 Munguia. Marseille’s Surace, however, was clearly intent on upsetting the figurative apple cart.

The first round seemed to be a bit slow until Munguia appeared to almost hurt his man before the bell rang. A thunderous left from Munguia put Surace down in the second. Surace beat the count, but Munguia went straight to the body. Surace, however, was ready, willingly trading with Munguia when it was clear he was in trouble. A slip brought Surace back to the mat at the start of the third. He stood up, but Munguia immediately followed him. Not that he was in a hurry. He was simply knocking his opponent over.

Surace tagged Munguia hard in the final minute of the quarter. He wasn’t winning the fight, but the man was certainly in the game. The fifth was quite tiring, but not without entertainment value. Munguia beat Surace on the ropes, 1970s George Foreman style. Surace took the assault well, but Munguia didn’t seem to be gassed. The sixth was essentially a replay of the fifth… until a powerful right hand suddenly sent Munguia to the floor – and out.

The knockout was so sudden, so unexpected, that it was no exaggeration to call it shocking. With a single punch, an obscure French fighter let the world know exactly who he was. As the ESPN broadcast team smartly pointed out, this was only Surace’s fifth knockout in 25 fights. Ultimately, the match can be seen as a great example of how timing and precision can literally end a match in seconds.

It’s hard to say where Munguia will go from here. His defeat on Saturday was so final that excuses won’t be easy to make for the now 44-2 fighter (not that Munguia is the type to make excuses anyway). That said, any fighter can be the victim of a near-perfect, well-landed shot. As for Surace, the man is currently the toast of boxing, and deservedly so. It’s literally an overnight sensation. The question for Surace now is: whose next? The answer will probably present itself soon enough. For now, though, the boy has every right to sit back and savor a victory that brought the boxing world to its knees.