Raymond Cuadrado and Louis Maietta fight much more than just fires.
asserted
Cuadrado → fight → fires
These two tough-as-nails FDNY members moonlight as pro boxers and are ready to douse their separate opponents on Long Island this Saturday with marquee matchups at the Paramount Theater in Huntington.
“There are a lot of times when we don’t get any sleep,” undefeated 8-0 Cuadrado told The Post of working in his South Jamaica firehouse.
asserted
Cuadrado → moonlight → firehouse
“It’s all about just having the mental discipline of powering through and getting a workout in after working a 24-hour shift,” the 30-year-old, 140-pound super lightweight added.
asserted
lightweight → ’ → shift
Cuadrado returns to the ring after a near three-year hiatus caused by numerous cancellations to face his toughest task yet: a co-main event against 13-3-2 Efstathios Antonas, aka “The Greek God.”
asserted
Cuadrado → return → Antonas
“I’m fighting somebody that has more experience than me, has been more active than me in the past couple of years,” said Cuadrado, a Ridgewood, Queens, native.
asserted
Cuadrado → fight → years
“He’s not a slouch, and so this is a big step up for me — a big challenge for me.
asserted
this → ’ → me
Meanwhile, The Bronx’s Italian Maietta is bringing paisan power into the ring for a “kill or be killed” super middleweight match against 3-6 brawler Eduardo Monrreal.
asserted
Maietta → bring → Monrreal
“He’s a knockout artist … like me, he’s never turned down an opponent,” 168-pound Maietta said of Monrreal.
asserted
Maietta → ’ → Monrreal
“Calls himself the Demolisher, but Saturday night the Demolisher gets demolished,” added Maietta, who is nicknamed “Il Martello” — Italian for “The Hammer.”
asserted
who → call → Hammer
Maietta is especially confident fighting on familiar LI ground, as he’s already duked it out at the Paramount 10 times.
asserted
he → fight → Paramount
“It’s my home away from home.”
asserted
It → ’ → home
The 32-year-old Maietta, a Morris Park native with a 6-6-2 record, dreamed of becoming a firefighter as a boy and now serves in an East Harlem engine company.
asserted
Maietta → dream → company
“We’re one of the busiest houses in the city,” said Maietta.
asserted
Maietta → ’re → city
It’s similar for fellow engine man Cuadrado, whose company responds to calls at JFK Airport and plenty more chaos happening throughout the World’s Borough.
asserted
company → ’ → Borough
There’s doing CPR, bringing somebody back to life,” he said.
asserted
he → do → life
“You never know what you’re going to do in a given tour at the firehouse.”
asserted
you → know → firehouse
And being a hero has taken its toll on their fighting lives from time to time.
asserted
being → take → time
“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.
asserted
Maietta → hurt → gym
Part of Cuadrado’s long hiatus is that he became a probationary firefighter in 2023 and didn’t want to risk injury before becoming fully tenured.
asserted
he → become → injury
“There was a bit of momentum loss,” he admitted.
asserted
he → be → loss
“Saturday, I’m just looking to pick back up where I left off and show everybody that I never left.”
asserted
I → look → everybody
Both boxers make their day jobs their top priority but are relieved to have supportive peers who make it easier to pursue their combative passions on the side.
asserted
it → make → side
Cuadrado, who helps train the FDNY’s amateur team, can sneak in training at the house during lulls, and Maietta’s bosses help him get days off leading up to a fight, which fellow FDNY members always attend.
asserted
members → train → which
“You win, you get made fun of.
asserted
you → win → fun
You lose, you get made fun of,” Maietta joked.
asserted
Maietta → lose → fun
“It’s a win-win for everybody.”
asserted
It → ’ → everybody
Cuadrado trained under his father, Ray, as a small child and now has his dad working the corner as a cut man in a full-circle moment.
asserted
dad → train → moment
“He was always very supportive when I told him I was going to be a pro boxer,” said Cuadrado, who dropped out of physical therapy school to pursue fighting and the FDNY.
asserted
who → tell → fighting
“He told me if you’re going to do this, do it right — and so far, so good.”
asserted
you → tell → it
Maietta is the grandson of iconic boxer and promoter Joe DeGuardia, who founded the Morris Park Boxing gym where Il Martello first earned his nickname while training years ago.
asserted
Martello → found → nickname
The close-knit neighborhood he grew up in has also shaped Maietta’s story, with the East Bronx behind him, like his FDNY comrades in East Harlem.
asserted
he → knit → Harlem
“I was running through there yesterday, and people were like, ‘Oh! There he is!’” Maietta said, likening the Morris Park moment to Rocky Balboa running through South Philadelphia’s Italian Market.
asserted
Balboa → run → Market
“Only nobody was following along with me,” he laughed.
asserted
he → follow → me
The Aporia
