Canelo vs Scull: Who is Bruno Surace? Meet the man who knocked out Jaime Munguia
Jaime Munguia returns to the ring on the 3rd of May on the Canelo-Scull undercard with the hopes of exacting revenge on Bruno 'Brunello' Surace.
The Mexican had his plans of rebuilding to a world title challenge derailed by the relative unknown Surace in December, who finished the year by producing the 2024 Ring Upset of the Year by knocking out Munguia in the sixth round.
With an immediate rematch, Surace has the opportunity to confirm his place in the world rankings and prove his victory was no miracle.
Who is Bruno Surace?
Name: Bruno Surace
Age: 26
Record: 26-0-2 (5 KOs)
Rounds: 171
Height: 6' 0'
Stance: Orthodox
History
Surace, born in Marseille, made his professional debut in 2016 at super welterweight where he composed a record of 8-0-2 without a single knockout. A move up to middleweight saw him score the first of his five career knockouts in 2018.
He continued unbeaten and claimed the French middleweight title in 2021.'Brunello' made slow progress through the rankings and claimed his biggest victory in 2023 in capturing the EBU Silver middleweight championship.
After a year layoff from the ring, Surace got the call to replace Ronald Gavril and fight Munguia. This was his first fight outside of France and he came in as the heavy underdog against the former WBO super welterweight champion who was now a top-ranked super middleweight.
It was expected that Munguia would make easy work of the Frenchman in a homecoming fight in Tijuana, Mexico. However, Surace explained that he was not intimidated by the occasion or the hostile crowd and that the only thing in his mind was how this fight could change the trajectory of his career.
'I knew this fight could change my life,' 'Brunello' said to BoxingScene. 'So, when I threw a punch, I kept it in mind that it could change my life, so I was 100 per cent focused and motivated by that.'
Come fight night, it looked as though Munguia was going to get an early stoppage, dropping Surace with a powerful left hook and controlling the action thereafter. But the man from Marseille hung in and when he saw his opportunity, he pounced with a right hand that flattened Munguia.
'I didn't realise when I threw my punch,' Surace explained to BoxingScene. 'But when I saw him fall, I saw his eyes, and he didn't get up. And I knew he wouldn't get up.'
Surace's stock skyrocketed, seeing him rise to number five ranked at super middleweight by the IBF and WBO. He maintains that he is a natural middleweight but would not write off any opportunities at super middleweight that may come his way.
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