He has a low-key demeanor and a welcoming, kind smile. When he shakes your hand, his calm presence is more befitting of sheep than that of a wolf, but that's only when he's outside of the ring.
Officer Christopher Sitra, a Fort Hamilton police officer for almost five years and retired New York Police Department officer by day, becomes a beast, with a heart, as a boxer at night.
Growing up in the tough Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush in the early 80s when gang violence and intense drug wars were ramped, Sitra was a skinny teen who was constantly bullied in high school. At a mere 130 pounds at 5'-5" tall, he was often a prime target.
"I had no choice," he said. "I had to either get beat up or learn how to defend myself."
At the encouragement of his stepfather, a cop and Air Force reservist who served in Desert Storm, he decided on the latter. His stepfather knew of a cop/pro boxer who ran a small boxing program at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School across the street from where he lived.
"I began training really hard, and then in 1988, I fought my first fight in the New York Golden Gloves competition as a junior-light weight under the tutelage of Al Gavin, my first coach and mentor," he said.
Four years later, he followed in his stepdad's footsteps and joined the police force in 1992 and continued to train. However, because of his police office duties, he was unable to fight, but vigorously trained under the guidance of his new coach, Herbie Hayes until 1996 when he moved up to welter weight class and fought again in the Golden Gloves competition.
"I was always in the gym," he said. "I never got out of shape."
While on the force, he joined the Police Benevolence Association and trained and fought for the police boxing team, fighting once in 1998, at the time he opened his own gym, the Padilla Boxing Club and then again in 2000.
"In the 2000 fight, I tore my elbow pretty badly during an exhibition middle weight bout, but I continued to fight against a Russian pro opponent for the entire three rounds," he said. "Because of that, I had to rest and let my elbow heal."
That led to elbow surgery and he left boxing for two years to heal. Not long after, Sitra medically retired from the force in 2002, but when his elbow healed, he picked up where he left off on his training.
After five years while training others at his gym, he received the urge to fight again at the age of 31. He returned to in 2004 after healing to retrain, then returned to boxing in 2006 to win his first fight at the age of 34. When he reached the age of 35, he began competing in the master's division. He fought in the 2007 Long Island championship at 37 then retired, but returned this year to fight a much younger opponent and won the national championship at the age of 41.
"I owe everything to my long-time friend and new trainer, retired Marine and New City fire fighter, Joe Higgins," he said. "He's probably the one person I really admire in this sport, not only as a coach and professional, but as a person and mentor. He trains me pretty hard."
Sitra's training program encompasses sprints during a two-mile run, jump-roping, heavy bag punching, hand-pad work and sparring twice a week. A "clean" diet consists of no bread or pasta, and gluten-free meals. He's now preparing for the fight of his career while he continues to battle on-going injuries.
"I'm healing with physical therapy before I return to fighting, but I'll be ready for the ring by next year when I'm 42," he said.
The forever young fighter sternly believes that he will absolutely win. "With my friend and coach in my corner, there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be victorious," he said.
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