Tiah-Mai Ayton: “I have had pressure my whole life. I set very high standards.”

Tiah-Mai Ayton: “I have had pressure my whole life. I set very high standards.”

Tiah-Mai Ayton has fight number six this weekend at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton. The 19-year-old blue-chip prospect has been hailed as a future superstar. A can’t-miss prospect who is tipped to win multiple world titles.

Ayton blew away her first four opponents in some style. With each fight, the hype got more intense. But earlier this year, Catherine Tacone Ramos told her that professional boxing doesn’t always follow the script. In February, Ramos pushed Ayton hard. Ayton prevailed on points, but many lessons were learned. “My last fight was my most difficult one yet,” Ayton told me over Zoom. But I learned a lot from it.”

“I should respect other people when I go and fight them, and not think I am going to stop everyone all the time,” Ayton added when I asked what specific lessons she had learned. “I thought I would just flatten her.

“I didn’t underestimate her, because she had beaten Shannon Courtenay. So I knew she was good because Shannon is a former world champion. But I didn’t watch any of her fights, I didn’t do anything. But I have learned a lot, and I have been studying my next opponent.”

Ayton edged home 77-75 after eight rounds that, in many ways, will serve her well. Ramos was a tough opponent, and Ayton deserves credit for the victory, especially with a somewhat troublesome build-up. “I had tonsillitis before the fight. I had a horrible weight cut. I had to cut five kilos the night before the fight. It was terrible.

“I have had a growth spurt. On my debut, I made weight easily. I didn’t even sweat it out. I literally made weight from cutting water and salt. But over the summer, I just kept getting bigger, stronger and more defined because of my strength and conditioning. I have got nutritionists, but none of them told me that I couldn’t make the weight. But before that, my weight just wasn’t dropping. I was staying at 60kg for the whole camp. I was only on 1200 calories a day. I wasn’t even eating anything. We cut right down, but I got really ill, and I stopped eating. After I had done my weight cut, I had nothing to let go of because I hadn’t really been eating anything for the past two weeks.”

“It definitely affected my performance,” Ayton added. “I felt I flat the whole fight. Even though I was ill, I could see her punches coming, and I was telling myself to slip them, but I just couldn’t do anything. It was so weird. But If 50% of me can beat someone like her, then a 100% version of me would have been different.”

Ayton has listened to her body and has moved up a weight division to fight Stevi Levy this weekend. “This next fight is at featherweight, and I will probably stay there. It will still be a struggle to make the weight, but it will be better for me making that weight. The only downfall of becoming a pro at such a young age is that you are still growing.”

The fight against Levy, who has never been stopped, gives Ayton a chance to remind everyone of her potential. “I am excited for it,” Ayton told me. “People are hyping it up, but I don’t think it will be that good. Stevi is game, and she comes forward. But every time she has gone up a level, she has lost. Hopefully, I can get that early stoppage and then go home.”

Even before Ayton turned professional in 2025, there were incredibly high expectations of her. With an unbeaten amateur career, Eddie Hearn quickly signed the young prospect, and that hype has only intensified. We forget that Ayton is still only 19, but she is taking all the plaudits in her stride. “It is pressure, but I feel as though I have had pressure my whole life. I set very high standards, so I have always had that pressure. I’m used to it now.”

If Ayton gets past Levy on Saturday night, the Bristol fighter will move on, and it will be interesting how fast she is moved. Ayton is balanced about how she wants her career to progress. “I don’t want them to hold me back, but at the same time, I don’t want to be rushed. I don’t want to achieve everything at too young an age. I want to keep doing this until I am 30. I don’t want to rush and do everything too quickly.”

“Hopefully, get a title,” Ayton added when I asked her where she wants to be at the end of this year.

It’s clear that the title she means is a world title. Ayton doesn’t think it’s too soon for her. “I wouldn’t mind the end of this year or the start of next year. I’ll be ready by then.”

The skill set Ayton possesses in a boxing ring is impressive. But it is her self-confidence, without a hint of arrogance, that is perhaps even more impressive. Even more so, when you consider how young she is.

“From a young age, because I have always won everything,” Ayton says of where that confidence comes from. “I train very hard, and I have sacrificed my whole life. Someone who puts their whole life into something and works hard, you will be good at it. You have to be confident to back it all up.”

Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing