BOXING AT THE IRVINE MARRIOTT : Olympic Medalist Gonzales Wins Unanimous Decision

IRVINE — Nine years since he won a gold medal and 2 1/2 since his last fight, Paul Gonzales attempted to recapture some of his magic Thursday night against Henry Lopez of San Diego at the Irvine Marriott. There wasn’t much left; however, Gonzales did have enough to win a unanimous decision over the awkward Lopez.

Gonzales (17-4) had a point taken away for low blows and another deducted for holding, but he landed many more effective punches than Lopez (22-10-1), who never came close to hurting the 1984 Olympic gold medalist from Los Angeles. He won by scores of 95-94, 96-92 and 95-92.

Lopez continually ducked in just as Gonzales, 29, threw his punches, making for a lot of holding, clinching and unhappy fight fans. Several of the 1,040 fans in attendance left before Gonzales showed some glimpses of his early days in the ninth and 10th rounds.

“I started getting my composure back at the end,” he said. “I tried to knock him out.”

In the undercard, middleweight James Toney of Campo (9-0-1) knocked out a persistent Donaldo Ortega of Los Angeles 1 minute 50 seconds into the eighth round. Toney, the second cousin of world super middleweight champion James Toney, hit Ortega with everything he had in the first round, but Ortega didn’t budge.

After the first round, Toney tired and Ortega’s confidence grew as he won the third and fourth rounds. But Toney got his wind back in the fourth and outboxed Ortega from the fourth through the eight round. In the eighth, Toney nailed Ortega flush on the jaw with a straight right hand, and just as Ortega was falling Toney caught him with another right.

The knockout was Toney’s third in 10 fights.

Welterweight Chuck Goossen, the nephew of promoter Dan Goossen, improved to 4-0 with an impressive first-round knockout of Misael Espino (7-9) of East Los Angeles.

Kenny Whack (12-2-1) of Washington, D.C., whacked Kenny McCullough around the ring for six rounds, taking a unanimous decision.