Jaime Munguia has exercised the rematch clause for a return bout with Bruno Surace of France, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
The super middleweight rematch is in negotiations for March or April in Mexico, sources said.
The move follows Munguia's sixth-round knockout loss to Surace on Saturday in his native Tijuana, Mexico. The former junior middleweight champion was a -2500 favorite in what is now the front-runner for upset of the year.
Surace (26-0-2, 5 KOs) was floored in Round 2 but rallied to drop Munguia for the count of 10 in Round 6 with a single overhand right.
Surace was handpicked to deliver an easy, stay-busy win for Munguia before he sought another high-profile fight in 2025.
Munguia (44-2, 35 KOs) suffered his first career defeat in May, a lopsided decision to boxing's top star, Canelo Alvarez.
The victory was just the ninth for Surace over an opponent with a winning record. The 26-year-old, who was fighting outside France for the first time, crashed ESPN's 168-pound rankings at No. 9. Munguia, 28, dropped seven spots to No. 10.
Munguia rebounded from the defeat to Alvarez with a 10th-round KO of contender Erik Bazinyan in September. He has now lost two of his past three fights.
Munguia scored his best win in 2023, a decision over former champion Sergiy Derevyanchenko that was ESPN's Fight of the Year. Now, Munguia will look to even the score and move back into title contention.
"Middleweight is my true weight class," Surace said after the fight, "but we'll see if it can happen."
