COMING in as a huge underdog, Rhonvex Capuloy looks to pull off an upset as he faces his stiffest test to date -- a 10-round fight against unbeaten Cuban fighter Dayan Gonzalez today, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at the World Siam Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Following a loss to Shunpei Ohata in Japan in 2024, the 29-year-old Capuloy got his rhythm back with two confidence-boosting knockout wins at the end of last year and earlier this year.
Before 2024 ended, he scored a second-round knockout of veteran Jason Tinampay, then followed it up with a third-round knockout of Michael Adolfo last July.
However, Capuloy must be at the top of his game if he intends to beat Dayan, who is a highly touted prospect.
“This will be a good fight. We are underdogs because the opponent is very good. But we are ready,” Capuloy’s trainer, Big Yellow Boxing Gym head coach Christopher “Ping-Ping” Tepora, told SunStar Cebu. “We’ll do everything we can to win this fight.”
The 26-year-old Gonzalez is currently rated No. 14 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and No. 23 by the World Boxing Council (WBC).
A solid prospect since turning pro in 2021, Gonzalez captured the International Boxing Organization (IBO) featherweight title with a first-round technical knockout of talented Thai contender Wira Mikham in England last year.
He is coming off another dominant performance -- a first-round knockout victory over Filipino fighter Kevin Villanueva in Dubai earlier this year.
Capuloy holds a win-draw-loss record of 13-3-3 with 10 knockouts, while Gonzalez boasts a perfect 17-0 slate with 15 knockouts.
Also seeing action on the undercard is Alvin Dologuin (1-3-1, 1 KO), who goes up against Chinese warrior Yang Quingtian in a four-rounder. /EKA