What’s Next For Munguia And Surace?

Jaime Munguia lost to Bruno Surace, raising question marks about their next steps.
Munguia had his second fight under Top Rank following his recent departure from Golden Boy Promotions. Before the fight, the WBC had ordered Munguia to face Christian Mbilli. That would be for the WBC Interim Super Middleweight Title. A win over Mbilli would then place Munguia in a position to rematch Canelo Alvarez. Munguia lost to Canelo, giving him an opportunity to run things back. But the defeat has now changed those plans. Munguia’s team has said they will exercise their rematch clause.
“I’m told that Zanfer intends to activate the rematch clause for Jaime Munguía vs. 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,” Salvador Rodriguez said
What’s Next?
But Surace could pursue an Mbilli fight if the Munguia bout breaks down. Mbilli is undefeated with a 28-0 record. 23 of his wins have come by way of knockout. He has stopped three of his last four opponents. He defeated Sergiy Derevyanchenko in his last fight via a unanimous decision. But it was not Mbilli’s best performance as he laboured to a win over the 39-year-old. Mbilli has previously called out Canelo. Before his win over Derevyanchenko, Mbilli admitted that Munguia could be next. But there is no guarantee that this will happen now.
“To me, I think I am better than Munguia and all of the fighters Derevyanchenko has fought. I will prove I am the best. When I beat Derevyanchenko, maybe Munguia could be next. I would be happy for either Munguia or Canelo Alvarez. Fighting Canelo Alvarez right now is the goal. He’s the No. 1 guy. I want to be No. 1 and to do that you have to beat the best. Right now he’s still the best super middleweight in the world. Fighting Canelo would be a great opportunity to show everybody I am the best super middleweight,” Mbilli said
Another alternative for Munguia is to face Edgar Berlanga. Berlanga’s only loss also came against Canelo. The Puerto Rican hit the canvas but got up to take the fight to the final bell. But he was dominated as he came second best in a unanimous decision loss. His reaction was heavily criticized. Berlanga called Canelo his idol in his post-fight comments, raising doubts that he believed he could win. Berlanga also celebrated in Mexico, with Oscar De La Hoya slamming it. The perception was that Berlanga was happy to have simply gone 12 rounds. Munguia mocked Berlanga’s reaction.
Munguia On Berlanga
“I don’t know what to say. I don’t celebrate a loss. [And] I work hard so I can learn. So, for me, I think it’s ridiculous to celebrate a loss. I respect him as a fighter, but I think it looks ridiculous to celebrate a loss. Let’s do that fight. It would be a good fight for next year. So, let’s do it. It’s not the main goal [to Fight Berlanga],” Munguia stated
Equally, there is an outside chance of a Surace fight with Caleb Plant. Plant is the former IBF Super Middleweight Champion. His first loss was also against Canelo. He bounced back from the Canelo loss to stop Anthony Dirrell. A defeat against David Benavidez soon followed that. But Caleb stopped Trevor McCumby in his last fight to keep his name in the conversation for the biggest fights. Surace will aim for the most lucrative fights, while Munguia has to avenge his loss, leaving him with plenty to ponder.
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