Two FDNY firefighters are set to trade their turnout gear for boxing gloves this Saturday at the Paramount Theater in Huntington, Long Island.
Raymond Cuadrado, 30, and Louis Maietta, 32, have built parallel lives battling blazes by day and opponents by night, with both men now preparing for the biggest bouts of their dual careers. Cuadrado, an undefeated super lightweight from Ridgewood, Queens, carries an 8-0 record into a co-main event against Efstathios Antonas, a 13-3-2 veteran known as “The Greek God.” Maietta, a super middleweight from Morris Park in The Bronx, faces 3-6 brawler Eduardo Monrreal in what he promises will be explosive.
Cuadrado’s return comes after a nearly three-year layoff born of professional caution. He became a probationary firefighter in 2023 and refused to risk injury before securing full tenure at his South Jamaica firehouse, where his company answers calls at JFK Airport and across Queens.
“There was a bit of momentum loss,” he admitted. “Saturday, I’m just looking to pick back up where I left off and show everybody that I never left.”
That hiatus stands in sharp contrast to his opponent’s recent activity. Cuadrado acknowledged the challenge ahead with characteristic directness.
“I’m fighting somebody that has more experience than me, has been more active than me in the past couple of years,” said Cuadrado, who speaks from a firehouse where sleep is often scarce. “He’s not a slouch, and so this is a big step up for me — a big challenge for me.”
The physical toll of firefighting has tested both men’s boxing ambitions. Maietta, who serves in an East Harlem engine company he calls “one of the busiest houses in the city,” once suffered a hip injury in a fire that forced him from the gym.
“I did get hurt once — I hurt my hip in a fire a couple of years ago, so I took some time out of the gym,” Maietta said. “But other than that, I’ve been very fortunate.”
Maietta’s confidence runs high for Saturday, partly because the Paramount Theater is practically his second home. He has fought there ten times already, and his 6-6-2 record belies a fighter who has never ducked a challenge. He speaks of Monrreal with respect laced with menace.
“He’s a knockout artist … like me, he’s never turned down an opponent,” Maietta said of Monrreal. “Calls himself the Demolisher, but Saturday night the Demolisher gets demolished.”
The nickname “Il Martello” — Italian for “The Hammer” — was earned years ago at the Morris Park Boxing gym, founded by his grandfather, iconic boxer and promoter Joe DeGuardia. That family legacy runs as deep as the neighborhood roots that still surface in unexpected moments.
“I was running through there yesterday, and people were like, ‘Oh! There he is!'” Maietta said of Morris Park, likening the scene to Rocky Balboa running through South Philadelphia’s Italian Market. “Only nobody was following along with me,” he laughed.
Cuadrado’s own boxing lineage traces back to his father, Ray, who trained him as a small child and now works his corner as a cut man. The younger Cuadrado abandoned physical therapy school to pursue both fighting and the fire department, a decision his father supported with conditions.
“He was always very supportive when I told him I was going to be a pro boxer,” Cuadrado said. “He told me if you’re going to do this, do it right — and so far, so good.”
The chaotic rhythm of firehouse life shapes everything for these fighters. Cuadrado described the unpredictable nature of a 24-hour tour: “There’s fully involved houses on fire. There’s helping give birth. There’s doing CPR, bringing somebody back to life. You never know what you’re going to do in a given tour at the firehouse.”
Both men credit supportive colleagues for making their double lives possible. Cuadrado, who helps train the FDNY’s amateur boxing team, catches workouts during lulls at the firehouse. Maietta’s bosses arrange time off before fights, and fellow firefighters always fill the seats.
“You win, you get made fun of. You lose, you get made fun of,” Maietta joked. “It’s a win-win for everybody.”
Cuadrado distilled the discipline required into a single sentence about the grind of 24-hour shifts followed by gym time: “It’s all about just having the mental discipline of powering through and getting a workout in after working a 24-hour shift.”