History, pressure, prejudice - meet British boxing's first female pro referee

Amy Pu (right) refereed her first professional bout in Poland in September 2023

>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."

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>Pu took the BBBofC training course and stepped up to the professional ranks in 2023.

>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 night said: 'Of course, you're stepping into the ring today,'" Pu said.

>"The photographers at ringside were taking photos of me and I just thought, 'Oh, this is for real'.

>"Once the fight started, I wasn't really thinking about anything apart from the boxers."

>Pu grew up in Taiwan and moved to London in 2004 to study before returning permanently in 2009.

>After doing some pad work during a personal training session, she thought about finding a boxing club for fitness.

>Her fitness hobby turned into amateur competition, then judging, before she stepped out of her comfort zone to become qualified referee in 2018.

>"My family are kind of like a traditional Taiwanese family - quite protective and lots of rules - so I think being traditionally brought up, I was quite risk-averse," she said.

>Pu's parents were fully supportive of her decision to transition into refereeing, although they did have concerns over her safety and being a target for racism.

>"Obviously, they were proud when they heard I was the first and the only one in the UK," said Pu. "But mums being mums, she was asking if it was going to be dangerous.

>"I said: 'They're not punching me, they're punching each other!'

>"Obviously, they worry about racism, they worry about a woman in a really male-dominated space.

>"I had to kind of reassure them that it's OK and that I can protect myself. When I was doing training, I got told you need to be thick skinned and I am that."

>Pu took on further responsibility inside the ring a month after her professional debut - scoring Robert Lloyd-Taylor Jr's win over Denis Hnidek as well as refereeing, before becoming fully qualified in 2025.

>"On the professional side, I have to say the reaction has mostly been really positive," Pu said.

>"During the amateur days, there were some odd comments and stuff. I think one of the hesitations I had before turning professional was also for that reason.

>"I just thought: 'Well, it's a very different demographic, the professional boxing supporters', and I just thought: 'Is it going to be worse than the amateurs and with the people that I work with?'

>Boxing referees are regularly criticised and, for a woman, the risk of that is heightened, but Pu says her experience so far has been positive.

>"People have just been so supportive, knock on wood, I haven't really had any criticism directed at me because of my sex or because of my race," Pu said.

>"I'm really grateful and I hope that it continues, that people should see me as a referee. They can give me stick as a referee, not as a female Asian referee."

>Pu, who works as a life coach and also hosts a podcast, does feel added pressure though.

>"I don't want people to have the excuse to say: 'Oh, she's not doing well because she's a woman.'

>"And for me, being non-white, having the East Asian face in the ring, I think it might surprise some people.

>"I definitely feel the responsibility that I need to be really good and have a high standard in my performance.

>"And hopefully I'll be able to show some young girls that when they watch boxing, apart from watching the female boxers, they can see there's a female referee in the ring and think: 'Oh actually, I didn't know I could be that.'"

>Pu's ambitions go beyond just being an inspiration. Last year, she took charge of a bout on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk's win over Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium and she is chasing bigger nights.

>She added: "A world title fight, maybe at Wembley again, or even at MGM in Las Vegas - who knows? I mean, dream big, right?"

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