Pratibha Khot is always spoiling for a fight. ``Even as a child, I liked maramari,'' she laughs, continuing in a light vein that she comes from a family of politicians and is accustomed to verbal duels anyway. But that's not the only reason she has chosen the unusual profession of becoming a judge at boxing matches. ``The sheer power and force involved in the sport, the thrusts and parries fascinated me,'' she says. A fascination that began during the 1994 Asian Games, when she would watch boxing matches on TV.Coincidentally, around the same time, Pratibha Khot's family-owned press began to get score sheets and souvenirs of the Boxing Association for printing. ``I was already interested in the game so when the manuscripts came by for printing, it was only natural for me to be further intrigued by boxing,'' says Khot.As a sports instructor with the Kokanasth Parivar, a community organisation, she came into contact with Sunil Nevrekar, secretary, Amateur Boxing Association (ABA), Pune region, and other members of the association who encouraged her interest in the sport. If you suppose that women in the boxing ring are an anomaly, Khot effectively KOs the thought. ``I believe we are just as capable as men in this sport. It is unfortunate that there are no women boxers or I would have definitely participated as a sportswoman. Becoming a boxing judge is the only other way I can be actively involved in this sport.''Khot took to attending inter-collegiate boxing matches and reading up books on the sport to gain an insight into the pugilistic world. ``After watching a few fights, I began to observe the judges who sat around the ring.'' With the encouragement of her family and members of the ABA, Khot attended a three-week training camp for boxing judges along with 21 others, three of them women, in September. ``I learnt the rules of the sport, the dimensions of the boxing ring, the different weight categories and other aspects of boxing,'' she lets out.Has she ever had to face ridicule on account of her passion for boxing? ``Some people think it's unfeminine but I have never had that problem. When I attend boxing matches, I am almost always the only woman in the room,'' she says. Khot certainly wants to change that. She has already officiated as a boxing judge for five matches so far. ``There are four judges per game who decide the points scored by boxers depending on the number and body part at which the blow is directed."Her ambition is to become a boxing referee, which she hopes to be after officiating for another four matches. In the meanwhile, she continues to strike a body blow to the notion that boxing is a man's game.
