McKinney Dominates Gonzales in Featured Bout at Country Club

Vincente Gonzales kept throwing punches where Kennedy McKinney had recently been Tuesday.

It seemed the only reason Gonzales ever knew the whereabouts of McKinney was because the 1988 Olympic gold medalist kept appearing just briefly enough to pound him.

So it wasn’t surprising that McKinney, utilizing his cat-quick reflexes and swift hands, scored a lopsided and unanimous 10-round decision over Gonzales at the Country Club in Reseda.

For Gonzales, it could have been worse. Just 10 days ago in Las Vegas, McKinney knocked out Alberto Martinez in the first round.

McKinney dominated every round against Gonzales, stinging him with a quick and accurate left jab in the first round and then, in the second, introducing Gonzales to his quick right hand as Gonzales repeatedly rushed in, trying to avoid the left.

In the fourth, even the bell offered Gonzales little respite as McKinney nailed him with a crunching right to the jaw several seconds after the bell had sounded.

Gonzales, his nose bloodied by the fifth round, made one attack in the closing seconds of the sixth round, rocking McKinney with five good punches to the head as he trapped the former Olympian against the ropes. But it was brief and it was Gonzales’ only serious assault.

McKinney is 18-0-1. Gonzales is 13-13-2. Both weighed 124 pounds.

In an earlier eight-round middleweight bout, Joey DeGrandis of Van Nuys lost a split decision that was controversial only because one judge--Dick Young of Los Angeles--scored the fight in DeGrandis’ favor, 76-75. That brought a loud chorus of boos from the 800 spectators, most of whom had cheered DeGrandis’ introduction.

Judges Larry Rosadilla scored it 76-75 for Rollin Williams and Burton Gilliam had it 77-74 for the winner.

Williams dominated nearly every round, scoring with three and four-punch combinations and then tying up DeGrandis, thwarting any counterpunching.

DeGrandis also lost a point in the fourth round for repeatedly hitting Williams on the back of the head.

Williams, 162, is 22-12. DeGrandis, 160, a two-time New England Golden Gloves champion now fighting for the Ten Goose Boxing Club in Van Nuys, is 11-2.

The most action-filled fight of the night was a light-heavyweight bout in which veteran Ramzi Hassan of Campo, Calif., was nearly knocked down in the opening seconds against Manuel Murillo of Las Vegas but came back with a furious assault and stopped Murillo at 2 minutes 2 seconds of the first round.