In less than a month, 17-year-old hot prospect Dylan Capetillo has moved to 2-0 as a professional. After turning pro for famed promoter Oscar De La Hoya a few weeks back at the Cosmopolitan in his hometown of Las Vegas, he was back in Sin City on Saturday May 3 looking for win # 2.
His debut win on April 11 was an impressive KO 1 over previously undefeated Jesus Castro. But, this past Saturday’s win showed even more sides to an already impressive arsenal.
Saturday night, on the undercard of the much-anticipated Davis Benavidez vs. Gilberto Ramirez card, at the MGM Grand, Capetillo banked his 2nd win over undefeated James Pierce.
He found out he was facing Pierce earlier in the week, but the last-minute opponent meant little to Capetillo. He had a job to do, and he was going to do it.
Make no mistake, this was no easy assignment with a gimme win from an opponent looking to get paid and get out. Pierce was undefeated and he came to win and was competitive all night looking to pull off the upset.
While Capetillo didn’t have the highlight reel KO of his first bout, in reality he showed even more skills with tremendous poise and guile for a teenager facing an undefeated grown man in Pierce.
There were a lot of pressure points in this fight and Capetillo, cornered by his father and brother, passed all the tests.
Facing an undefeated fighter on a few day’s notice, fighting in your hometown on a huge card, and facing the intense spotlight of being a hot prospect are all things that can create huge pre-fight anxiety for a young fighter.
But, Capetillo has been around boxing, and big-name fighters his whole life. His calm demeanour and laser focus on the task at hand are all evidence of a young fighter who shows a maturity well beyond his years.
Working off a good jab, mixing head and body shots and showing his ability to find openings for hard counters, Capetillo looked very good over the 4 rounds and will come away from the bout a better fighter.
Props to Pierce who came to fight and gave Capetillo a full night’s work, but in the end, Capetillo won a solid UD 4.
“I always said I’d be a professional boxer”, said Capetillo, “now we’re doing it’.
And doing it in impressive style. On to the next one.