Pepe Reilly

Outside Resurrection Gym, in a fierce East Los Angeles neighborhood, a young man named Pepe emerges from a car. Pepe is looking for a fight. But this kid carries no gang affiliation. Not a single tattoo mars his body. No red or blue or green bandanna is knotted around his head. The young man is Pepe Reilly, and the only fight he is looking for is inside the gym, inside the boxing ring and within the rules. His weapons will be a pair of heavily padded fists.

Pepe Reilly beat Randy Archuleta by unanimous decision in a four-round junior welterweight bout Saturday night at the Olympic Auditorium. But the Glendale resident wouldn't have won any beauty contests. Reilly, 22, suffered a bruised forehead and an inch-long gash above his left eye from a head butt in the second round. The gash bled for the rest of the bout. "What concerned me was my vision," said Reilly, who was rushed into the locker room for stitches immediately after the fight.

Oscar de la Hoya of East Los Angeles cruised to a routine opening-night victory, and Pepe Reilly of Glendale barely advanced with a 3-2 decision on the opening night of the U.S. Olympic team boxing trials Wednesday night. De la Hoya, the 1991 lightweight national champion and rated No. 2 in the world, is a solid favorite in the trials. He beat an overmatched Houston boxer, Lewis Wood, with a 5-0 verdict.

The nimble hands that made the jump-rope smack against the floor and the speed bag in the gymnasium go whoppa-da, whoppa-da picked a poor time to betray Pepe Reilly. His new slacks and jacket for the Olympic opening ceremony were spread out neatly on the bed, but the fingers of the Glendale welterweight fumbled unsteadily with the shirt buttons and he was struggling with the necktie when Joe Byrd dropped by. "Help me with this," he said. "What for?" "I can't get it tied." Byrd, the U.S.

Pepe Reilly beat Randy Archuleta by unanimous decision in a four-round junior welterweight bout Saturday night at the Olympic Auditorium. But the Glendale resident wouldn't have won any beauty contests. Reilly, 22, suffered a bruised forehead and an inch-long gash above his left eye from a head butt in the second round. The gash bled for the rest of the bout. "What concerned me was my vision," said Reilly, who was rushed into the locker room for stitches immediately after the fight.

Pepe Reilly is proving, once again, that he can carry his weight in the boxing ring--even if that weight includes an extra 28 pounds. Reilly, 19, reached the USA/American Boxing Federation national amateur championships Feb. 24-March 3 at Colorado Springs, Colo., by winning twice in the 147-pound division last weekend at the regional finals at Azusa. Reilly, who lives in Glendale and attended Hoover High, reached the national finals in the 119-pound division last year.

Pepe Reilly stopped eating his breakfast and listened to two boxers in their early 20s discussing the day's fight card at the next table. "I was going to fight this guy and he was asking who Pepe Reilly was," Reilly said. "The other guy looked over and pointed at me." Upon inspection, the two didn't laugh outright. It was more of a giggle. Reilly appeared to be a walkover--an easy mark in the 106-pound golden glove ladder. Reilly heard the snicker but didn't respond.

The U.S. boxing team put together an Olympic Games winning streak of two Sunday, with Eric Griffin and Pepe Reilly winning handily in the tournament's first session. On a day when a crowd of about 1,500 in the Joventut Pavilion included African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela and pro heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, the U.S. team improved markedly on the first-day performance of the 1988 team.

While the Olympic boxers slug it out in Seoul, Pepe Reilly continues to out-jab his local opponents. Reilly, 17, narrowly missed making the U.S. team, losing to Michael Carbajal in the 106-pound class of the Olympic Boxing Trials in July. But don't be surprised if Carbajal, 21, doesn't recognize Reilly the next time the two meet--the Hoover High junior has grown like a weed. He weighs 119 and plans to fight as a bantamweight.

Little Ceci De La Hoya didn't quite understand. Her big brother, Oscar, had made the U.S. Olympic boxing team, but the big, boisterous De La Hoya contingent of family and friends was shouting and cheering so loudly, she apparently figured something bad had happened. So Ceci, 9, burst into tears as she saw her brother seated at a table, speaking into a microphone to reporters. It must have seemed to her as if he was facing some sort of inquisition.

The U.S. boxing team put together an Olympic Games winning streak of two Sunday, with Eric Griffin and Pepe Reilly winning handily in the tournament's first session. On a day when a crowd of about 1,500 in the Joventut Pavilion included African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela and pro heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield, the U.S. team improved markedly on the first-day performance of the 1988 team.

Little Ceci De La Hoya didn't quite understand. Her big brother, Oscar, had made the U.S. Olympic boxing team, but the big, boisterous De La Hoya contingent of family and friends was shouting and cheering so loudly, she apparently figured something bad had happened. So Ceci, 9, burst into tears as she saw her brother seated at a table, speaking into a microphone to reporters. It must have seemed to her as if he was facing some sort of inquisition.

Oscar de la Hoya of East Los Angeles cruised to a routine opening-night victory, and Pepe Reilly of Glendale barely advanced with a 3-2 decision on the opening night of the U.S. Olympic team boxing trials Wednesday night. De la Hoya, the 1991 lightweight national champion and rated No. 2 in the world, is a solid favorite in the trials. He beat an overmatched Houston boxer, Lewis Wood, with a 5-0 verdict.

Outside Resurrection Gym, in a fierce East Los Angeles neighborhood, a young man named Pepe emerges from a car. Pepe is looking for a fight. But this kid carries no gang affiliation. Not a single tattoo mars his body. No red or blue or green bandanna is knotted around his head. The young man is Pepe Reilly, and the only fight he is looking for is inside the gym, inside the boxing ring and within the rules. His weapons will be a pair of heavily padded fists.

Pepe Reilly is proving, once again, that he can carry his weight in the boxing ring--even if that weight includes an extra 28 pounds. Reilly, 19, reached the USA/American Boxing Federation national amateur championships Feb. 24-March 3 at Colorado Springs, Colo., by winning twice in the 147-pound division last weekend at the regional finals at Azusa. Reilly, who lives in Glendale and attended Hoover High, reached the national finals in the 119-pound division last year.

For those who think all boxers derive their greatest pleasure from pummeling an opponent's face into an erupting hemoglobin volcano, meet Pepe Reilly, a lad who seems a mite sweet for the sweet science. Reilly's brown eyes are softer than a well-worn speed bag. His voice is softer still. He spends his spare time grooving to the reggae strains of Bob Marley and the Wailers. Art fascinates him; he would rather draw than draw blood.

For those who think all boxers derive their greatest pleasure from pummeling an opponent's face into an erupting hemoglobin volcano, meet Pepe Reilly, a lad who seems a mite sweet for the sweet science. Reilly's brown eyes are softer than a well-worn speed bag. His voice is softer still. He spends his spare time grooving to the reggae strains of Bob Marley and the Wailers. Art fascinates him; he would rather draw than draw blood.

The nimble hands that made the jump-rope smack against the floor and the speed bag in the gymnasium go whoppa-da, whoppa-da picked a poor time to betray Pepe Reilly. His new slacks and jacket for the Olympic opening ceremony were spread out neatly on the bed, but the fingers of the Glendale welterweight fumbled unsteadily with the shirt buttons and he was struggling with the necktie when Joe Byrd dropped by. "Help me with this," he said. "What for?" "I can't get it tied." Byrd, the U.S.

While the Olympic boxers slug it out in Seoul, Pepe Reilly continues to out-jab his local opponents. Reilly, 17, narrowly missed making the U.S. team, losing to Michael Carbajal in the 106-pound class of the Olympic Boxing Trials in July. But don't be surprised if Carbajal, 21, doesn't recognize Reilly the next time the two meet--the Hoover High junior has grown like a weed. He weighs 119 and plans to fight as a bantamweight.

Pepe Reilly stopped eating his breakfast and listened to two boxers in their early 20s discussing the day's fight card at the next table. "I was going to fight this guy and he was asking who Pepe Reilly was," Reilly said. "The other guy looked over and pointed at me." Upon inspection, the two didn't laugh outright. It was more of a giggle. Reilly appeared to be a walkover--an easy mark in the 106-pound golden glove ladder. Reilly heard the snicker but didn't respond.