Gonzales Wins in His Pro Debut; Tillman and Tate Triumph, Too

The professional boxing career of Paul Gonzales began the same way he finished as an amateur exactly one year ago when he won an Olympic gold medal at the Sports Arena.

Inside the red, white and blue ring ropes at the Hollywood Palladium Sunday, a scene somewhat different from the Olympics, Gonzales scored a unanimous six-round decision over Jose (Pulga) Torres in a flyweight bout.

Two other gold medalists also won their fights, but heavyweight Henry Tillman didn’t have to work nearly as hard as his Olympic teammates.

Tillman knocked out Larry Phelps in the second round of a scheduled six-round bout that followed Frank Tate’s unanimous six-round decision over Thomas Smith in a middleweight fight.

The star of the show, however, was Gonzales, from East Los Angeles, who had not fought since breaking his right hand in the Olympic Games. Gonzales admitted he had been nervous about making his professional debut, for which he had waited a year while his broken hand mended.

“I was way too excited,” he said.

Ryan O’Neal, accompanied by Farrah Fawcett, was at the Palladium in the paid crowd of 888. So, too, was Torres, 29, a veteran of 39 professional fights who stood in the way of Gonzales and a possible super flyweight title fight with Joey Olivo.

With exactly one professional bout to his credit, the 21-year-old Gonzales already has an agreement from Olivo to fight him for the title within 12 months, according to James E. Blancarte, Gonzales’ attorney.

Gonzales, who weighed 115 pounds for his debut, would have to drop down to 108 pounds to reach the super flyweight limit.

A title match would be fine with trainer Al Stankie, who said Gonzales convinced him he was perfectly all right after the year-long layoff.

“We pitched a shutout,” said Stankie. “The kid is destined for greatness.”

Gonzales did not throw a right hand in the first round against Torres, preferring to jab and move, but he said that was part of his plan, not because he was worried about his hand.

“I wanted to use the jab and keep him worrying about the right,” Gonzales said. “The name of my game is to give boxing lessons.”

Referee Marty Denkin and judges John Thomas and Dr. James Jen-Kin agreed in their decisions. Each scored the fight, 60-54, for Gonzales.

The next fight for Gonzales is scheduled for Oct. 8 against an opponent who has not yet been chosen. Gonzales said he was relieved to finally be able to fight again.

“The pressure is off now,” he said. “Maybe it’ll come back Oct. 8. At least I’ve gotten my first pro fight out of the way. I won’t have to go crying to my trainer, ‘When am I going to fight?’ ”

Boxing has never been part of the Palladium’s 44-year history because the building is not zoned for it, but Dick White, Palladium managing director, received a temporary variance to allow Sunday’s card, which was telecast nationally by CBS.

Not much was seen of Phelps, who was knocked out by Tillman at 1:11 of the second round, but as it turns out, that wasn’t unexpected. Phelps trained two days for the fight. He was asked Wednesday morning if he would replace Oscar Holman as Tillman’s opponent.

Phelps, in fact, had won a six-round decision last Saturday in Charlotte, W. Va. He came down with a 104-degree temperature and the flu the next day. The 188-pound Phelps, 24, claimed he was in condition, but was not sure about the kind of television exposure he had just received in the ring.

“It’s not too good exposure to find yourself on your backside,” he said.

Joe Olmos of the State Boxing Commission said Phelps did not violate California rules by fighting twice within eight days. Olmos said that even if a fighter has a scheduled 10-round bout, he is required to have only six days off before his next fight.

Tillman, 25, from Los Angeles, weighed 196 1/2. He said he was not angered when Phelps connected once in the first round, but he clearly became more aggressive and caught Phelps leaning later in the fight.

“I got him with a right hand pulling out and I heard him wheeze,” said Tillman, whose record is 6-0 with five knockouts. “After that, I knew it was just a matter of time.

Tate, 20, was forced to go the the distance against the more experienced Smith, who had 19 previous bouts. Tate was cut above his right eye, but still controled the fight.

“If the knockout had come, I would have accepted it,” said Tate, who counts six knockouts among his 8-0 record. “I just wanted to look good on TV.

I think I did that.”