2 Officers With a Score to Settle Meet in the Ring The older officer had taken a few boxing lessons at a gym not far from where his daughter went to gymnastics class. The younger officer had arms that seemed to belong to a man who weighed twice his 166 pounds. Each was harboring a grudge against the other. Both said they could take a punch. In the basement of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan last Friday, the two officers squared off in a boxing ring, courtesy of the New York Police Department's boxing team, which hosts occasional fights each year to give officers a chance to settle their differences. Such refereed fights are billed as grudge matches, and they are often the talk of the precinct house. This fight, between Officers Rahul Sahni and Brian Henn, both of the 83rd Precinct in Bushwick, Brooklyn, was no different. The feud had started out innocently enough. "Basically, I pulled a prank on him and he did something to take it to the next level," Officer Sahni, 25, explained shortly before he stepped into the ring to fight his larger, older foe. The prank was juvenile: On a rainy day, Officer Sahni drove by Officer Henn's foot post and pretended he was a sergeant. He called Officer Henn out from under an awning for the officer's memo book to be marked. Sergeants regularly use the memo books to record that officers are stationed in the proper place. Officer Henn, 35, said that as he approached the van, Officer Sahni, whom he did not know, drove off, laughing. "I was stuck standing in the rain," Officer Henn said. "It was a friendly little thing," Officer Sahni said. So began the feud. As retaliation, Officer Henn "did something I took offense to," Officer Sahni said, refusing to go into detail. Officer Henn would not explain either, beyond saying "there were some locker-room pranks." A call was made to Lt. Dave Siev, the president of the department's boxing team, and a match was arranged. This was not Officer Sahni's first grudge match. Although he has been on the force for only two years, he had fought one last summer on Coney Island and lost. "Maybe it's not him," Officer Sahni said. Maybe it's me. He brought his girlfriend to the church for support. Officer Henn's supporters, however, did not include his wife: he did not tell her where he was, knowing she would be furious. The Sahni-Henn bout was among several at the church that night, some pitting the Police Department's boxing club members against visiting police officers from a Hungarian team, matches where considerable skill was on display. Those in the ring included Sgt. Mark Sinatra of the 113 Precinct in Queens, who is perhaps the department's best boxer, and Detective Shakeima Pelzer of the 13th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan, making her debut. The fight between Officer Henn and Officer Sahni was a bit more primitive. Officer Henn, who worked in the mortgage industry before joining the force five months ago, might have been the better boxer, but Officer Sahni was more up for a fight. Officer Henn landed a solid right hook and also delivered a few glancing blows. But it only served to rile up Officer Sahni, who swung wildly for the next two rounds, connecting at times, and wearing Officer Henn down. The turning point came when Officer Sahni's right fist slammed into Officer Henn's cheek, sending spit flying. As Officer Henn sagged backward against the ropes, the referee called out, "Show me your fists." When Officer Henn was asked if he could continue, he shook his head no. In an e-mail a few days later, Officer Henn said that dehydration and heat exhaustion - and not Officer Sahni's punches - had done him in. Lieutenant Siev, the boxing team's president, said that after most grudge matches, both officers became precinct heroes regardless of who won. "It gives the precinct something to talk about," Lieutenant Siev said, adding that usually the two officers end up on better terms. But that didn't seem to be the case here. The bad blood between is now "actually worse," Officer Henn wrote, explaining that he did not take kindly to Officer Sahni's bragging since the victory. In fact, Officer Henn called Officer Sahni and challenged him to a rematch next year. "I believe that he is actually afraid," Officer Henn wrote. I took his best punches and still came after him. I just ran out of gas ... My age kicked in. Officer Sahni did not return a call for comment.