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Dalton Smith in boxing pose, charcoal portrait
BREAKING

Dalton Smith Injured — Yafai vs Sandoval Promoted To Sheffield Main Event

A training injury has ripped Dalton Smith out of his Sheffield homecoming against Alberto Puello — and bumped a flyweight world title fight to the top of the bill.

By Luke Parker • June 5, 2026 Boxing Lookout
  • Dalton Smith withdraws injured from his WBC super lightweight defence against Alberto Puello, June 6 in Sheffield
  • Galal Yafai vs Ricardo Sandoval for the WBC and WBA flyweight titles is promoted to main event, live on DAZN
  • My verdict: rotten luck for Smith, but the card is in safe hands — get the Puello fight rebooked for the autumn

Smith Out, Yafai In — Sheffield's Big Night Just Got Reshuffled

Right then — Sheffield's been turned on its head. Dalton Smith, the city's own WBC super lightweight champion, has been forced out of Saturday's headliner against Alberto Puello with a training injury. No first defence, no homecoming title night, no Puello. Make no mistake, that is a sickener for the lad and for everyone who'd bought a ticket to watch a Sheffield world champion go to work.

Let's not beat around the bush: a withdrawn main event could have gutted the whole card. Instead, Matchroom have done the sensible thing and promoted Galal Yafai vs Ricardo Sandoval — a proper WBC and WBA flyweight world title fight — into the main event slot. The Utilita Arena show goes ahead Saturday, June 6, live on DAZN, and if anything the marquee fight is now a better one.

What The Dalton Smith Injury Actually Costs Him

Here's the thing about a Dalton Smith injury at this stage of his career — it is rotten timing more than anything fatal. He is 19-0 with 14 knockouts, he holds the WBC strap, and Puello (24-1) was exactly the kind of awkward, rangy southpaw he needed to get past to announce himself as a genuine top-tier 140-pounder. That test is only delayed, not cancelled.

The Dalton Smith injury also reshuffles a busy super lightweight division that is not going to sit and wait politely. Smith needs to heal up, get the Puello fight rebooked before the year is out, and make a statement. A long lay-off is the enemy of a fighter still climbing. If you know, you know — momentum is everything at this level.

Spare A Thought For Puello Too

Alberto Puello flew in for a world title fight and now goes home without one. The Dominican has been a fringe titlist himself and there is real class in that 24-1 record. He'll want the rebooked date locked in sharpish, and he'd be entitled to feel he was robbed of a chance to nick a belt in enemy territory.

My Take

I'm not sitting on the fence here: this is bad luck, not a duck. Smith is too good and too ambitious to be derailed by one withdrawal. Get him back for the autumn against Puello, and I still fancy the Sheffield man to box his ears off over twelve rounds. For Saturday, though, the spotlight belongs to Yafai — and that is no consolation prize whatsoever.

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