U.S. OLYMPIC BOXING TRIALS : Reilly, Williams in the Driver’s Seat

Pepe Reilly of Glendale and Jeremy Williams of Long Beach are one victory away from a summer trip to Spain after victories Saturday in the finals of the U.S. Olympic boxing trials. Reilly was booed when he won a narrow victory over Jesse Briseno of Kalamazoo, Mich., in the welterweight final.

Williams, a hard-punching light-heavyweight who played football at Long Beach Poly, won the Southern California light-heavyweight title--and perhaps a trip to the Barcelona Olympics--with a 36-17 decision over Montell Griffin of Midway City.

This afternoon, lightweight Oscar De La Hoya of East Los Angeles and the Boyle Heights Brooklyn Gym will try to be the third Southland boxer to win a trials championship when he meets Anthony Christodoulou of Syracuse.

Thirty minutes after Saturday afternoon’s six finals, before about 1,500 in the 15,000-seat Centrum, USA Boxing officials selected “most noteworthy opponents” for Saturday’s champions at the June 26-28 Olympic team boxoffs in Phoenix.

Reilly must beat Briseno again in Phoenix to make the plane to Barcelona. Briseno must beat Reilly twice in Phoenix to claim a spot on the team.

But Griffin, despite giving Williams all he wanted Saturday, wasn’t picked to face him in Phoenix. Chosen instead was Terry McGroom of Chicago, a narrow semifinals loser to Griffin here.

The four other trials champions from Saturday:

--Light-flyweight Eric Griffin, who ran four miles at 4:30 a.m. to ensure making weight, overwhelmed Mario Bueno of the Army, 70-16, then drew his first-round victim, Bradley Martinez, as his Phoenix opponent.

--Sergio Reyes of the Camp Lejeune Marines, in his 16th bout with Ft. Worth buddy Paul Ayala, won, 71-20, in the 119-pound division, then drew Ayala as his Phoenix foe.

--Chris Byrd, a middleweight from Flint, Mich., and son of Olympic team Coach Joe Byrd, pinned a 41-17 decision on Michael DeMoss of Camp Lejeune, then drew him for the boxoff.

--Danell Nicholson, a Chicago heavyweight, easily defeated James Johnson of Lawrence, Mass., then drew Bobby Harris of Worcester as his boxoff opponent, something of a surprise. Harris was a semifinal loser to Johnson.

Reilly, a hard-hitting welterweight, has been plagued here by slow starts, and his title bout Saturday was more of the same. Reilly-Briseno was like watching a chess match, with each trying to counter the other.

Reilly grew so frustrated at one point in the second round at being unable to attack the mobile Briseno at close range that he began punching himself, on his headgear. He didn’t land a damaging punch on his opponent until midway through the third round, when he snapped Briseno’s head back with a straight right.

Seconds later, he scored with a thumping right hand to the ribs, which seemed to hurt Briseno.

When the 34-27 decision was announced for Reilly, there were boos. Then cheers erupted when Briseno left the ring.

“I figured it was a coin-flip when it ended, but I’ll take it,” Reilly said, grinning. “If they’d given it to him, I wouldn’t have complained.

“I beat him at the Golden Gloves in Chicago, but he was much tougher this time. He slugged with me last time. This time he stayed away and boxed.”

Reilly has pulled himself from the depths of despair to within one victory of the Olympic Games. Reilly tested positive for steroid use after the 1991 national championships and endured a nine-month suspension.

He was ineligible for the 1992 national championships. His suspension ended shortly before the national Golden Gloves championships at Chicago in March--his only chance to qualify for the Olympic trials. He won a tournament title.

“I try not even to think about the Olympics,” he said Saturday. “All I want to do now is focus on beating Jesse one more time in Phoenix.”

Williams, a mobile, graceful athlete, can hit. But he never caught the shorter, crouching Montell Griffin with a solid punch.

Griffin was boxing for the second day in a row with a cold. It prevented him, he said, from sleeping the past two nights. The two had boxed once before, with Williams winning a 4-1 decision at the 1991 Golden Gloves nationals.

“No excuses--he beat me fair and square,” Griffin said, adding that he now wants to turn pro in Southern California.

Williams, tall and lean, is a model. He says his agent called him earlier this week.

“They wanted to know when I’m coming home,” he said. “They told me Fruit of the Loom wants me.”