Amy Pu: British boxing's first female pro referee
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Amy Pu, a Taiwan-born former England Boxing amateur official, stepped up to the professional ranks in 2023 after a BBBofC member approached her, and made history refereeing Marcus Eaton's win over Paul Scaife at York Hall in March 2024.
- Pu refereed three more bouts on the same York Hall card and was not certain she would officiate until the lead referee confirmed her assignment ringside, with ringside photographers alerting her to the milestone's weight.
- Pu moved to London from Taiwan in 2004 to study, returned permanently in 2009, and pivoted from pad-work fitness sessions to amateur competition, then judging, then qualifying as a referee in 2018.
- Pu officiated on the undercard of Oleksandr Usyk's win over Daniel Dubois at Wembley Stadium last year and became fully qualified in 2025, with her stated ambition being a world title fight at Wembley or the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
- Pu's parents, from a traditional Taiwanese family, voiced concerns about her safety and being a target for racism in a male-dominated sport, but she reports that criticism in the professional ranks has so far been directed at her refereeing rather than her sex or race.
- Pu says she feels added pressure as a non-white woman in the role and does not want to give critics an excuse to attribute any shortcoming to her gender, framing her visibility as a chance to show young girls a new path into the sport.
Why it matters: As the first and only woman to referee a professional bout in British boxing, Pu's 2025 full qualification and Wembley undercard appearance on the Usyk-Dubois bill gives the BBBofC a concrete working model for placing women officials in high-profile cards, with Pu openly targeting a world title assignment.
