Fight Night Is Nearly Here
Right then. Tomorrow night, Dalton Smith walks out at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield for the first defence of his WBC super lightweight title. It is live on DAZN, it is Matchroom's show, and it is the fight Sheffield has been waiting on since an injury in training pushed it back from 6 June.
Dalton Smith vs Alberto Puello is a proper fight on paper. The champion is 19-0 with 14 stoppages. The challenger, Alberto Puello, is 25-1 with 11 knockouts. The Ring has Smith as its number one at 140 pounds and Puello as its number three, so nobody can call this a soft touch for the home fighter.
The Southpaw Problem
Puello is 32, a Dominican southpaw, and he is clever. His only loss came by majority decision to Subriel Matias in July 2025, and that was a fight he made awkward and close against a monster puncher. Let's not beat around the bush, that tells you how hard he is to land clean on.
Smith knows it too. He has said Puello has an awkward style but that he does well against southpaws. I like that confidence, and I like that he is not pretending it is simple. The lead foot battle will decide the first four rounds, and if Smith loses it he will see that left hand all night.
Why The Champion Still Gets My Vote
Smith is the one with the momentum. He took this belt by stopping Matias, and he said this week that he is just getting started and has plenty more to prove. Make no mistake, that is a champion who wants to make a statement, not one who is happy to hold on to the belt.
Fourteen stoppages in 19 fights also tell you something. Puello can make him miss, but over ten or twelve rounds the pressure and the body work add up. A counter-puncher with a 25-1 record still has legs that get tired when the ribs are being worked.
What I Want To See
Patience from Smith. The home crowd will want fireworks in round one and he has to ignore it. Jab, feint, cut the ring off and make Puello fight on the back foot. If he does that, the gap in power does the rest. If you know, you know.
From Puello, I want to see whether he is brave enough to stand and trade in the second half. If he sits on the outside and boxes, he can win rounds, but he is not going to win over a Sheffield crowd that will roar every Smith jab.
Luke’s Verdict
Puello makes the early rounds scrappy and may nick a couple on the cards. Then the pressure tells. My prediction hasn't changed: Dalton Smith by stoppage in the ninth or tenth round.
Check the full card on our fight schedule, read my fight week piece on Smith vs Puello and keep up with the build-up on the news page.