Referee: Gender shouldn’t be issue

The country’s first woman boxing referee said she hopes Katie Taylor’s Olympic gold medal win will encourage some of Ireland’s “experienced” boxing coaches to help more girls join the sport.

Sadie Duffy has been refereeing some of the country’s biggest boxing names since she qualified in 1997.

Ms Duffy, from Buncrana in Co Donegal, became good friends with the Bray golden girl after refereeing a number of her bouts. She said while boxing in Ireland has changed, more needs to be done to get girls into the ring.