NOTTINGHAM, England – Rising star Tiah Mai Ayton was taken the distance for the first time against the impressive Catherine Tacone Ramos at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena.
The now 9-4-1 (2 KOs) Ramos had been brought over from Brazil to give the young Ayton a test, but she may have been better than Matchroom had thought. Ayton, 19, has breezed through her opposition so far as a professional, and had been expected to do the same as she came out for the opener. Ayton pawed away with her lead hand but was instantly met by a fierce right from Ramos. That only spurred on the travelling Brazilian, and she again tagged Ayton with two more before the round’s close.
Ramos, 22, continued to impress in the second and third sessions, countering Ayton well who was lazy with her defense. It seemed as though Ayton had grown too used to having it her own way, and Ramos was comfortably countering. Although Ayton was struggling to get to grips with her lively opponent, she never seemed to panic and started to outland Ramos in the fourth. Ayton began to come to terms with Ramos, however, and in the fifth had her best round of the contest. Ayton tagged Ramos with a well placed right hand that shook the young Brazilian’s legs, but yet again Ramos fought back.
Ayton had now found her groove, and seemed comfortable, waving her hands in the air as she thumped in her left hand in the sixth. The bout was close heading into the final session and Ayton sensed she would have to finish strong to ensure she kept her undefeated record. Ramos sensed it too, but Ayton was too good, trapping the Brazilian in the corner and hammering away at her body. The referee was fair to Ramos and awarded Ayton a narrow victory by scores of 77-75. The now 5-0 (4 KOs) Ayton seemed disappointed as she had her hand raised but will have learned more from the eight rounds with Ramos than in her four previous contests combined.
Before then, former UFC fighter Molly McCann competed in her third professional contest against Hungary’s Beata Dudek, 7-9 (4 KOs). McCann, a junior featherweight, was looking to improve on her narrow victory over Ebonie Cotton in November, where she herself admitted her performance fell short of expected standards. This time McCann was the aggressor throughout, pressing the taller Dudek, 33, towards the ropes and unleashing her right to the body. Despite McCann’s efforts, the stoppage never came, and McCann, now 3-0 (1 KO), was awarded the victory via scores of 60-55.
The lightweight Joe Howarth opened the show with a routine win over Dan Booth, 6-19 (3 KOs). Howarth was coming off a decision loss to the highly rated Giorgio Visioli in which the 23 year old Howarth came out with more than he’d lost. The bout against Booth, 39, was a lackluster one, with Howarth dominating throughout with his jab but failing to press for a stoppage. The score was 40-36 in favour of the now 15-2 (4 KOs) Howarth.
