Star-Power: Tiah-Mai Ayton Shines Again
Tiah-Mai Ayton impressively and effortlessly improved her unbeaten record to 3-0 on Friday night at the York Hall with an emphatic 4th round stoppage victory over the Argentinian import Laura Belen Valdebenito.
Valdebenito was dropped in the opening seconds of the 2nd round, and despite showing plenty of patience, Ayton noticeably stepped up the pace at the start of the pivotal final round looking to end matters inside the scheduled six rounds. The Argentinian showed little ambition, but took plenty of solid shots before the referee called the fight off in somewhat strange circumstances after the second knockdown.
A punch that landed around the back of the head dropped Valdebenito, and she looked more than capable of carrying on before the referee halted the action prematurely. But Ayton was well on her way to her third professional victory. The way the fight ended was anticlimactic, and the referee denied Ayton a cleaner stoppage victory.
The 19-year-old looks like a blue-chip prospect. Unbeaten in twenty-one fights as an amateur, Ayton is already making headlines in the professional ranks. The likes of Katie Taylor and Skye Nicolson are predicting very big things for the young starlet. It’s easy to see why. I thought there was much maturity in her work against Valdebenito in the opening three rounds. Ayton was patient, and when she went looking for the stoppage in the 4th round, she found it.
It’s difficult to predict her ceiling, but it looks to be incredibly high. The bigger tests will come, almost certainly sooner rather than later. Tiah-Mai Ayton has done little wrong so far, and women’s boxing might have found its next superstar.
Photo Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing
Published by FightPost: MMA & Boxing News
Published
17th October 2025