Jaime Munguia can both focus on the task at hand and also plot his next move.

The Ring No. 1 super middleweight contender is set for his fourth fight of 2024 with thoughts of big fights in the year ahead. Munguia (44-1, 35 knockouts) is set to welcome France’s Bruno Surace (25-0-2, 4 KOs) to his hometown this weekend at Estadio Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico (Saturday, ESPN+, 9:00 p.m. ET).

With a win, Munguia hopes to race to the top—or at least as high as he can climb without it being another shot at The Ring/unified super middleweight king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs).

“Once we win this fight, I would love to line up the biggest opportunities possible in 2025,” Munguia told The Ring. “I know it will be tough to get the Canelo rematch, I have to win a few more big fights to earn that right so that is the plan. There are other top fighters like me who can’t get to Canelo and will want a big payday.

“So, they will want to fight me. I am ready to take on that role and anyone who comes my way. I think I will be in a very good position to land the fights I want.”

Munguia dropped a twelve-round, unanimous decision to his famous countryman on May 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The 28-year-old has since returned to the win column with a tenth-round stoppage of Canada’s Erik Bazinyan on Sept. 20 in Glendale, Arizona.

Bazinyan, The Ring No. 9 super middleweight, was 32-0-1 (23 KOs) at the time.

Next up is another unbeaten opponent in Surace, who fights outside of France for the first time in his eight-year pro career.

Munguia has put in the work for this fight as he would any other top-level opponent. Still, it’s understandable why there exists the temptation to look ahead— DraftKings sportsbook lists Munguia as a whopping -4000 to win this weekend.

The rest of this year has been about remaining active and putting as much distance as possible from his lone career defeat. The year ahead will be about landing the type of fights that will give Alvarez, The Ring No. 7 pound-for-pound entrant, no choice but to look his way again one day.

“We would love to fight Caleb Plant, [Christian] Mbilli, Edgar Berlanga,” vowed Munguia. “Anyone ranked in the division who is in our way towards winning a world title.

“Let’s see what comes, but I am ready for all of those fights.”