Oceanside NYPD officer boxes in ‘grudge match’ for charity

He introduced himself as Z.

On a cold March afternoon, a former Marine and seven-year veteran of the New York City Police Department was warming up at Rounds Elite Fitness on Lawson Boulevard to train for a boxing grudge match he had scheduled in Queens for the following evening.

When he sat down to talk, a light Ukrainian accent would occasionally rear its head. “I guess it comes out when I’m nervous,” he said softly. He rarely made eye contact.

Officer Yevgeniy Zaytsev, 31, moved to Oceanside in 2015 after spending much of his youth in Brooklyn. He, his parents and three siblings emigrated from Ukraine in 1995, when he was 10, to create a better life in the United States. Despite all of his experience making critical decisions on the battlefield in Iraq and the streets of New York City, he had never boxed before.

The March 16 fight — organized by Lieutenant Dave Siev of the NYPD Boxing Team — was a “smoker,” a department term for a grudge match, meaning someone had a problem with Zaytsev. He was publically called out to fight during roll call at his precinct one morning. “The guy said he was going to kick his ass and knock him out in 30 seconds,” Sensei Eloy Santos, Z’s trainer and Rounds Elite Fitness co-owner, said incredulously. “We’ll see.”

“It was either yes or no,” Zaytsev said. Though he was not sure why he had been called out — noting, “I’m senior to him” in terms of rank — he decided to accept.

Officer Z, a name he garnered in the Marines when others struggled to pronounce his name, was the main event at the fight. Roughly 14,000 people attended, according to Santos, and Z “crushed” his opponent, Officer Haddi Chalati. Overall, there were 13 fights — five smokers and eight commissioned fights, according to Santos.

Ticket sales went toward Atlas Cops & Kids, a charity organization that operates youth boxing gyms in Brooklyn and Staten Island. The group aims at hosting one fighting event in each of the five boroughs per year. Whether they are smokers, like with Z, or the fighters are selected, the purpose of the fights is to raise money for charity.

Service has been a defining characteristic of Z’s early life and career. Nearing the end of high school his parents gave him two options. “Either go to college or move out,” he recalled them saying. So he joined the Marine Corps, and served two tours of duty in Iraq from 2004 to 2008.

To him, it was obvious what he wanted to do after the military. “I loved serving this country,” he said. “What’s better than to serve your city?” By 2009, he was an NYPD officer.

“I’m not trying to be too cocky about it,” Z said the day before the fight as he looked over to his coach.

“Look at him,” said Santos. “He’s ready.”