History, pressure and overcoming prejudice - Pu's life as a referee

History, pressure and overcoming prejudice - Pu's life as a refereeImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Amy Pu (right) refereed her first professional bout in Poland in September 2023ByChris McKennaBoxing writerPublished3 minutes ago"I thought, 'Why not? Why not me?'"Amy Pu is talking about the moment she decided she would try to become the first ever professional referee in British boxing.The Taiwan-born official was working as an amateur referee when she was approached by a member of the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) about doing it on a professional basis.The problem was - no woman had ever done it before and no other woman has done it since."I hadn't thought about turning professional because my goal was to progress to international level in the amateurs," Pu, who was a qualified England Boxing official, tells BBC Sport."And hopefully one day I could get selected to go to the Olympics."I did watch professional boxing and what really kind of bugged me was that you didn't see a female referee on TV or at shows."Small halls in crisis - boxing's lifeblood is struggling to breathePublished27 December 2025Privilege, criticism & VAR - life as a boxing refereePublished21 March'Can't live in the past' - Warren on boxing's future after 45 years as promoterPublished7 FebruaryPu took the BBBofC training course and stepped up to the professional ranks in 2023.Then came the moment of history. Female referees have officiated across the globe in the professional sport but never in the UK, but that changed at York Hall in March 2024. There was nothing out of the ordinary about Marcus Eaton's win over Paul Scaife, apart from the face that Pu was the third person in the ring.Pu refereed a further three bouts on that card but was not certain she would be in the ring at all as she travelled to the venue."I brought all my kit and everything and the lead referee of the nigh...