LEWISTON – So what’s a nice girl like Terry Gamache doing in a boxing ring where bloody noses and black eyes are part of the game?

“It’s in my blood,” said the 39-year-old mother of five and sister of former two-time world champion Joey Gamache. “I’ve been involved in boxing since I was 10. I could sit and watch fights and I could judge the winner.”

But Gamache rarely sits at ringside as a spectator. She has become a Level-3 boxing official and judge, allowing her to work amateur bouts across the country. She has also set her sights on becoming an official for the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) – the creme de la creme of amateur boxing.

“I am going to make AIBA,” said Gamache, who is also the Chief of Officials for the state of Maine. “If you know boxing, it’s not hard. I have to do five national tournaments. I’ve already done three.”

Gamache is not just another pretty face.

She knows the rules of the sport better than most hard-core fans and is quite comfortable judging a bout. But when it comes to stepping in the ring as an official, Gamache still has a touch of stage fright even though she is not intimidated when fighters nearly twice her size get locked up in a corner.

“The big thing is all the guys want me in the ring,” said Gamache. “Once I am in the ring, I am OK. It can really be rough in there. I am not afraid of any fighter. I can stop a bout anytime.”

Joey Gamache is not surprised that his kid sister is becoming a top-notch official.

“She grew up in this game like I did,” said Joey. “She did the marketing in my pro fights. She can promote, she can matchmaker, and that’s a lot of work.

“She knows boxing from A to Z. It’s a family thing. She doesn’t want to let go.”

Terry plans on doing the amateur female fights for Joey’s next local card on Sept. 25.

“My goal is to have an all-female show,” she added.

Family affair

Terry Gamache is proud of her pugilistic roots. She has always enjoyed being a member of the boxing family who supported her brother’s rise to the top years ago. She worked tenaciously behind the scenes for most of Joey’s fights, and watched her father, Joe Gamache Sr., train numerous fighters at his gym in the Lewiston Armory.

Her two sons, Ryan Gamache and Jeffrey Wright are both up-and-coming fighters – and so the boxing tradition in this family continues for another generation.

“She knows what she is doing,” said Wright. “She has always been around boxing.”

Ryan Gamache is obviously proud of his mom, who now has an opportunity to travel around the country.

“I think its good for her because it is good for us,” said Ryan Gamache.

After watching countless fights, Terry developed an eye for calling the outcome. She decided to take the exam to become an official, and thanks to the environment she grew up in, Terry quickly rose to a Level-3 official.

“I lived boxing 24 hours a day with my brother and father,” said Gamache. “I have the knowledge.”

Boxing officials who have worked with her in and out of the ring are astounded by her knowledge.

“I have to say she is 97-percent correct all the time,” said Ray Delicio, Chief of Officials for USA Boxing in New England. “She’s got it in her. She wants to do it. I would walk the plank for her because she is worth it.”

During the Regional Junior Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, Delicio put Gamache on the spot when he told her she would be officiating a bout at the last minute – a sort of baptism by fire. Delicio felt it was the only way to get her in the ring without giving her a chance to back out.

“That was terrible,” recalled Terry. “It was my first time refereeing. I never expected it. I was scared to death.”

But when the National Anthem began playing and the bell rang, Terry went the distance despite her fear of going solo in the ring.

“I think it’s her attitude,” said Delicio. “She wouldn’t let anything beat her.”

She recently worked as an official at the women’s nationals in Spokane, Wash., where she earned a best judging award. At the Men’s U.S. Open in Colorado Springs, Colo., she copped another best judging award in the Eastern Trials.

“She loves the sport, and she is dedicated to the sport of boxing, and that’s why she’s as good as she is,” said Gary Bevis, a Level-2 USA New England Boxing official. “She’s extremely knowledgeable on the rules. That’s something you must know or you are not going anywhere.

“You are not going to find anybody who is disappointed in her performance, and if they are, there is something wrong with them.”

At the Men’s U.S. Open, Woodie Woodward, an official for AIBA’s Continental Bureau, worked with Terry as her ring captain. Woodward says that Terry needs more time in the ring before she can join AIBA.

“I admire anybody who wants to aspire to that level,” said Woodward. “She is pretty sharp on the rules.”

Still, there’s no question her roots have given her an edge in a sport dominated by men.

“She’s a natural,” said Mike Rosario, an AIBA official, who is chief of officials for the Women’s Nationals. “She’s born and raised in the game.

“She’s a very decent judge. She will make it (AIBA) if she keeps going the way she is going. She works at it and we are helping her out in every we can.”

Higher aspirations

But AIBA is not Terry Gamache’s ultimate goal.

Although it is tempting to judge and officiate pro bouts, Gamache knows turning to the pros will take here out of the running to become an AIBA official. She will lose her amateur status even though working in professional boxing is lucrative.

She sees AIBA as a stepping stone to bigger and better things in boxing like becoming a matchmaker.

“I want to find the best female (boxer) out there and promote her to the top,” said Gamache.