Fight of the Firefighters

FDNY boxing team KOs Irish competition & hopes to go the distance against NYPD

In front of a sold-out crowd of more than 1,000 cheering fans, the FDNY Bravest Boxing team battered the Dublin Fire Brigade at the first-annual Transatlantic Championship on March 12 at B.B. King’s Blues Club and Grill in New York City, winning seven of eight bouts. “Dublin has a much smaller department,” FDNY boxing coach Bobby McGuire says modestly.

FDNY firefighters who won their bouts include Rick Windmueller (Engine Co. 268), Edgar Reyes (Engine Co. 84), Joe Chiodi (Engine Co. 262), Mike Reno (Engine Co. 33), Ryan Nordman (Ladder Co. 45), Devin Powers (Ladder Co. 7) and Richie Sharron (Ladder Co. 173).

Fighting for a Good Cause
This was the first time the FDNY battled the Irish team, but it may not be the last. The FDNY Bravest has hosted an annual match with the London Metro Police & Fire Brigade for 7 years and counting.

However, the most important opponents for the FDNY Bravest—and the bouts they really want to win—are much closer to home. The annual “Battle of the Badges” between the Bravest and the New York Police Department (“the Finest”) is a hugely popular event held at Madison Square Garden. “This September will be the 27th-annual match,” McGuire says, “and we’re tied at 13 wins apiece. The winner of this one gets all the bragging rights.”

Traditionally, the FDNY Bravest Boxing Team donates all proceeds from these amateur matches to the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization that helps men and women of the armed forces who have been severely injured in conflicts (www.woundedwarriorproject.org). Most of the money raised had to be spent on the considerable expenses of transporting and housing the Dublin team, as well as the cost of the venue; however, “Any money left over after all of that will go to the Wounded Warrior Project,” McGuire says. 

A Promising Future
McGuire is a retired firefighter from Ladder 143 in Richmond Hill and a former FDNY boxer himself. He was captain of the Bravest Boxing Team when the group started in 1982. As the current coach, he works with 15 to 20 boxers who train three times a week—on their own time, not the fire department’s.

The FDNY Bravest had four members make it to the prestigious Golden Gloves tournament in 2008. “We had a pretty successful year last year,” says McGuire, who is looking forward to victory at the Battle of the Badges—and beyond.