Jaime Munguia returns home bigger in name and size.
The Ring No. 1 super middleweight contender will enter the ring at the heaviest weight of his eleven-year career. Munguia stepped on the scale Friday afternoon at 169.1 pounds (76.7 kilograms), more than a full pound than in each of his wins over Erik Bazinyan and John Ryder earlier this year.
Munguia's weight was the same as his opponent, France's Bruno Surace. Their scheduled ten-round bout will headline Munguia's homecoming at Estadio Caliente in his Tijuana hometown (Saturday, ESPN+, 9:00 p.m. ET).
The bout is the fourth on the year for Munguia (44-1, 35 KOs), all at super middleweight where he has campaigned since 2023. The former WBO super middleweight titlist had a three-year stint at middleweight but quickly outdrew that division as well.
Munguia weighed just under the 168-pound divisional limit for each of his past four fights, though all with some form of title at stake. He was 167.4 pounds for his unsuccessful challenge of RING/unified super middleweight champ Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs), against whom he lost a unanimous decision on May 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The defeat was bookended by knockout wins in the greater Phoenix area. Munguia was 167.8 pounds—a career-heaviest at the time—ahead of a ninth-round knockout of England's John Ryder on Jan. 27 at Footprint Center, home to the NBA's Phoenix Suns.
Munguia then rebounded from the Alvarez defeat with a tenth-round knockout of Erik Bazinyan (32-0-1 at the time) on Sept. 20 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Munguia weighed 167.7 pounds during the official pre-fight weigh-in.
Surace (25-0-2, 4 KOs) fights outside of France for the first time as a pro. He has mostly campaigned at middleweight, but was 169 1/4 pounds in a Dec. 2022 win over Giorgi Umekashvili in his Marseille hometown.
That weight was just shy of his Dec. 2021 win over Artem Karasev, when he was 169 1/2 pounds at the official pre-fight weigh-in.
Also on the show, Mexico City's Alan David Picasso (30-0-1, 16 KOs) weighed 125.9 pounds for a scheduled ten-round featherweight bout against Colombia's Yehison Cuello, who weighed 124.6 pounds.
Picasso is The Ring No. 5 junior featherweight contender. He is also in queue to challenge The Ring/undisputed 122-pound king Naoya Inoue (28-0, 25 KOs), though plans could be delayed given recent events.
Inoue was set to defend against Picasso next April in Las Vegas. However, his scheduled Christmas Eve date was postponed when Australia's Sam Goodman (19-0, 8 KOs) suffered a cut during his last day of sparring.
Cuello replaced Ghana's Isaac Sackey, who was pulled from the show for undisclosed reasons.
Jake Donovan is part of the U.S. team for The Ring. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.