Munguia should ‘walk away’ from Surace rematch, Benavidez Sr says.

Trainer Jose Benavidez Sr. advises Jaime Munguia not to face a rematch with Bruno Surace after being knocked out by him in the sixth round last Saturday night in Tijuana, Mexico on December 14th.

Jose Sr. says Surace (26-0-2, 5 KOs) will be “super motivated” after his win, and could cause another “upset” in his rematch with former WBO junior middleweight champion Munguia (44- 2, 35 KOs). Benavidez Sr. wants Munguia to move on from the loss, live his life and not fight a second time.

Avoid rematch

Jose Sr. believes Munguia should have finished Surace after dropping him in the second round. He thinks he let him off the hook because he wanted to please the fans. It didn’t seem that way. It looked like Munguia had tried to knock him out, but changed his mind after Surace, 26, hit him in the head with a huge right punch.

That shot made Munguia step back because it was just as hard as the one that knocked him out in the sixth.

According to Salvador Rodriguez of ESPN Knockout, Munguia’s promoters at Zanfer want to activate the rematch clause in their contract with Surace to force a second fight in the first half of 2025.

“I think he was taking his time, trying to find the perfect shot. I think it should have been Jaime,” Jose Benavidez Sr. told Fight Hub TV when asked why Jaime Munguia suffered a knockout loss to Bruno Surace on Saturday night.

“I think he [Munguia] he was trying to please the people, his fans, and that’s what happened. I think if he had pushed the accelerator a little more, I think he would have stopped it when he dropped it [in round two]. He probably thought, “This guy is too easy.” I’ll give a show to my fans and then I can release it.’

“What he did was a big mistake. I think he should have stopped it, and he should have done everything and taken things seriously. It’s a little difficult. I would let him go. I wouldn’t accept the rematch. I would move on with my life and not accept that fight,” Jose Sr. said when asked if Munguia should take on a rematch with Surace.

It would be interesting to know if Jose Sr. would have the same attitude in not accepting a rematch if his son, David Benavidez, was knocked out by Surace. Would you advise David not to activate the rematch clause if Surace hit him in the sixth round last Saturday?

“Now that boy is on his mind. That guy is super motivated and showed the world what he could do. You can imagine the motivation he has right now. In reality it is [Surace] a pretty good fighter. He counted really well and I think we could have another upset,” Jose Sr. said.