Tiah Mai Ayton: The Rising Star of Women's Boxing

Luca Twort - SportScope Editor

Fighting has always been part of Tiah’s life. From a young age, she was influenced by her father Mike, a kickboxing world champion who began to train Tiah mixed martial arts when she was just six years old. By the age of 10, Tiah became a kickboxing world champion, following in her father's footsteps. Despite her strong background within kickboxing and other combat sports, Ayton chose Boxing. She went on to be a five-time national champion and won gold in the 57kg weight category at the Amateur World Championships in Colorado. Not to mention winning the Haringey Box cup, which was televised, earning recognition from Great Britains Olympic team. However, despite remaining undefeated as an amateur, Tiah felt the overall amateur setup didn't suit her. She now fights at Warriors gym in Weston Super-Mare, around an hour away from her hometown Kingswood in Bristol.  

Dreams began to take shape when she was sparring with former featherweight champion Skye Nicholson, who she impressed at just 18 years old, which led to Ayton signing with Eddie Hearns Matchroom Boxing promotions. Tiah made her professional debut against Sara Orszagi in Birmingham, stopping the Hungarian with just 23 seconds into the third round earning her first professional win by way of knockout. The star prospect from Bristol continued to live up to expectations, as she stopped her next two opponents, producing highlight reel knockouts. She stopped Lydie Bialic and Argentinian Laura ValdeBenito, with both fights lasting only the fourth round of the scheduled six round contests, with both opponents going down twice within each fight. Her potential has not gone unnoticed, as Undisputed lightweight women's champion Katie Taylor believes that she could go all the way becoming the greatest ever female boxer. 

A trip to the 02 Indigo was next up for Tiah Mai Ayton, as she faced 7-1 Ana De Moraes. Ayton's power was too much, as a vicious right hand dropped De Moraes early in the first round. Despite getting up,another right-hand landed resulting in a stoppage within the third round, extending Ayton’s record to 4-0. Following multiple dominant performances, Ayton was put to the test as she faced Brazilian Bantamweight Catherine Tacone Ramos. The referee having it 77-75 in favour of Tiah Ayton. This fight proved to be a valuable learning experience for Ayton showing that she could go the distance required - something that this would play a vital part in Tiah's career when she is progressing towards title contention. Her next bout is currently schedule for May the 2nd where she will face former EBU Silver bantamweight champion Stevy Levy, who is trained by former men's European and commonwealth featherweight champion Jordan Gill. Ayton is set to take on Levy at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton, as part of the undercard of Walker Vs Eggington. The heavy hitting teenager will certainty gain a valuable experience from this bantamweight weight bout as “Super” Stevy Levy holds a clear advantage of experience under her belt with just under twenty professional bouts. This is only the beginning for Bristol's Star Girl.