REILLY RETURNS WITHOUT SAME PRESSURE.

Byline: MICHAEL ROSENTHAL / Boxing

Pepe Reilly wouldn't trade his Olympic experience for anything.

At the same time, the boxer from Glendale would have liked to have had a life. From grade school to the 1992 Games, boxing consumed his time. And he had a disciplinarian father/trainer there at all times to make sure it did, a father to whom he barely speaks today.

Finally, he had enough. At 24, he put a halt to a disappointing three-year pro career and set about making up for lost time. He partied, dated, did some acting, worked a 9-to-5 job and, most significant, stayed away from boxing. In other words, he had a normal existence.

Two years later, he apparently has had his fill of normalcy: Reilly, who discovered he missed the sport, is back. He's training with Emanuel Steward and hopes to fight as soon as next month.

``I've grown so much the last five years, since the Olympics,'' said Reilly, now 26. ``In the Olympics, I felt like a little boy. I think I've matured a lot. I learned not only about boxing but about the world, about life.

``I know what it feels like to be on top and be on the bottom.''

Reilly, who trained on and off with Oscar De La Hoya since he was about 10, enjoyed boxing as a child. Until it became serious. That's when he began to feel the pressure, when somehow it was no longer a game but a job. As a child. And, yes, the pressure came from his father, Fred Reilly Sr., who Pepe said isn't a malicious person, just a ``really intense person'' who knows what he wants and pursues it with passion.

Still, the boy had to live with constant pressure.

``It was pretty hard,'' he said of life under Fred Sr., who didn't return a message left with Pepe's younger brother, Fred Jr. ``I have a coach when I go to the gym and get yelled at for two hours. Then I come home and get yelled at for two more hours. My only break was school.

``I got trained how to eat dinner, how to wake up in the morning, things like that. It was tough. For a while, I couldn't bear it anymore.''

Reilly will admit there was an upside: the Olympics.

A hotshot since he was a kid, he was among the favorites in the 147-pound class in Barcelona but lost badly in the second round to Vitalijus Karpaciauskas of Lithuania. Initially, he was shattered. Ultimately, he was able to look forward.

Skilled and confident, tall and rangy, quick and powerful, he was a cinch to make it as a professional boxer. He signed with promoter Bob Arum and worked primarily with De La Hoya's trainer, Robert Alcazar. There was no way he could fail.

And then he did.

Reilly said he was burned out after two decades in the ring. Without Fred Sr., he certainly had lost his intensity. It showed in the results: He finished the first part of his career 11-3, losing his final two bouts to fighters he doesn't even remember.

Again, he reached his limit. All the work, all the pressure over the years had gotten him to Barcelona, but that was it. No medal, no quick rise to the top as a professional, no fame, no riches.

``When I lost two fights in a row like that, I started thinking seriously whether this is what I wanted to do,'' he said. ``I didn't want to be known as a fighter who wins one and then loses one.

``I decided I needed time off, to quit or something, to see if there was something else out there and then decide if I wanted to come back.''

Fred Jr. said Pepe seemed to lose his desire after his first loss, a six-round decision to Joshua Renteria in only his fifth pro fight.

He wouldn't run in the morning as he always had, he would miss workouts and, even then, he started going out at night. Fred Jr. agreed that all the years in the sport probably had taken a toll to some degree. However, he wasn't so quick to blame his father.

Put simply, he implied his brother is lazy and that Fred Sr. was the fire that lifted Pepe to amateur success. Without the elder Reilly around, Fred Jr. wasn't terribly surprised that Pepe failed - angry that he would waste his natural ability but not surprised.

``Pepe is the kind of guy who likes a lot of things,'' Fred Jr. said. ``He's not the type to work really hard for anything, though. He's naturally a great athlete. As far as his desire, our father provided that. Pepe liked training, he just never liked running, dieting, the sacrifices you have to make.

``. . . I was angry a few years back, only for a short time. Our father is still angry. He's a driven man, he works seven days a week. He just doesn't understand why Pepe isn't like him as far as desire.''

Pepe understands such criticism.

One, he understands his father's personality and why he would be upset over his career. All the sacrifices he made, Fred Sr. made, he admitted. They were a team. And, two, he concedes he didn't work as hard as he should have in part because his father wasn't there to push him, but also because he simply was tired.

``I could see people saying I was lackadaisical. It was a shortage of energy in my eyes, though, in my punches, in everything,'' he said. ``. . . I don't regret anything I did. People expected a lot out of me, especially my family and friends. I can't look back and say I should've done this and that. I did the best I could for the time.''

The fire began to flicker once again when Reilly visited De La Hoya's Big Bear training camp before the champion's June bout against David Kamau. The two even sparred.

Suddenly, the familiar sights and sounds were alluring. He got caught up in the excitement and wondered, with no one pressuring him, whether it was time to give it another try. More recently, he made the decision. He hooked up with Steward, who was training De La Hoya at the time, and began workouts with uncomplicated motivation.

``I want to come back knowing I gave it a shot this time,'' he said. ``If nothing comes out of it, at least I'll know I tried. I want to say I'm champion of the world, to be rich. More than that, I want to say I gave it shot.''

Rabbit punches: Mike Tyson severed his ties with promoter Don King and fired his co-managers John Horne and Rory Holloway amid reports he's in financial trouble.

He couldn't have made a better move. His decision will sit very well with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, who has the power to reinstate him after banning him from the sport last year.

Horne and Holloway were seen as negative influences on Tyson. It's obvious he's better off without them. And while he might very well return to King for business reasons, he made a strong statement: It appears Tyson is taking control of his life.

It's about time. . . .

Roy Jones Jr., who decided not to fight heavyweight Buster Douglas, resumes his quest for a fight that will earn him big money. He remains interested in WBO light heavyweight champ Darius Michalczewski, but the busy Polish fighter won't be available for months.

He better act quickly: While fighters like De La Hoya are building fan bases, people are beginning to forget who Jones is. . . .

Talk about disappointment: Michael Nunn goes to Germany to fight Graciano Rocchigiani only to have Rocchigiani pull out because of flu. The fight, for the vacant WBC light heavyweight title, has been tentatively rescheduled for March 14 in Berlin.

COMING UP

Friday: On Showtime, Johnny Tapia defends his IBF junior bantamweight title against Rudolfo Blanco in Albuquerque, N.M. Also, Laurent Boudouani fights Guillermo Jones for Boudouani's WBA junior middleweight championship.

Saturday: Marcelo Dominguez defends his WBC cruiserweight title against Juan Carlos Gomez in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

PHOTO Pepe Reilly from Glendale, shown when he was 16, has resumed training at age 26 after a two-year layoff, but his father isn't training him.

Daily News File Photo

BOX: COMING UP (see text)