Podcast: Recap of Bruno Surace's massive upset KO of Jaime Munguia
Also thoughts on Akhmadaliev-Espinoza card and Rocha-Curiel draw; news of the week; big fight anniversary memories
A note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: I created Fight Freaks Unite in January 2021 and eight months later it also became available for paid subscriptions for additional content — and as a way to help keep this newsletter going and for readers to support independent journalism. If you haven’t upgraded to a paid subscription please consider it. If you have already, I truly appreciate it! Also, consider a gift subscription for the Fight Freak in your life.
We spent our time recapping the three most notable cards on a busy Saturday that were headlined by super middleweight Bruno Surace’s monumental sixth-round knockout upset of Jaime Munguia, Murodjon Akhmadaliev’s third-round knockout of Ricardo Espinoza to win the vacant WBA interim junior featherweight title, and the welterweight slugfest between Alexis Rocha and Raul Curiel that ended in a draw. We also covered news of the week and looked back on big fight anniversaries.
Here is what’s on the show (in order):
Recap of the obscure Surace’s unthinkable KO of Munguia that shook up the 168-pound division and ruined Munguia’s best laid plans.
Recap of the Matchroom Boxing card topped by Akhmadaliev-Espinoza and Akhmadaliev’s callout of Inoue, who owes him a mandatory fight, as well as the undercard.
Recap of Rocha-Curiel, which was a fantastic fight, and the probability of an immediate rematch.
I am in my 25th year of full-time boxing coverage. Take advantage of that experience by upgrading to a paid subscription for full access to all posts and comments — and also support independent journalism.
The postponement of undisputed junior featherweight champion Naoya Inoue’s Dec. 24 defense because of a cut suffered by Sam Goodman and it being reset for Jan. 24.
Ringside memories on the fifth anniversary of when Terence Crawford stopped Egidijus Kavaliauskas to retain the WBO welterweight title but got perhaps the toughest fight of his career and Teofimo Lopez blasting out Richard Commey in the co-feature to win his first world title, the IBF lightweight belt.
Ringside memories on the eighth anniversary of when Joe Smith Jr. knocked Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins out of the ring in the eighth round that sent him into retirement in the bout I helped match.
Still mourning on the one-year anniversary of when Showtime aired its final boxing event and ended its 37-year involvement in the sport.
Please give it a listen! Also: rate, review, subscribe and enjoy!
We bring you the preview each Friday and the weekend recap each Monday. Let me know what you think of the podcast by leaving your comments.
Surace-Munguia photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank
Please upgrade your subscription here: https://danrafael.substack.com/subscribe
Thank you so much for your support of Fight Freaks Unite!
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danrafael1/
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanRafael1
Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanRafaelBoxing
The link has been fixed. It is correct now.
Please update link to most recent podcast. Thanks.