Sheffield Gets Its Night
Right then. Dalton Smith walks out at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield on Saturday as the WBC super lightweight champion, with his own city behind him. It is live on DAZN, and it is his first defence of the belt.
This fight was meant to happen on 6 June. An injury in training pushed it back, and the wait has only made the occasion bigger. Smith is unbeaten, he arrives off a brilliant fifth-round stoppage in Brooklyn, and Matchroom were right to call that one of the best wins by a British fighter in years. Make no mistake, he has momentum.
Why Puello Is Dangerous
Alberto Puello is a Dominican southpaw who has held a world title twice. He is awkward and he is experienced. Nobody should be calling this an easy defence.
Southpaws always change the geometry. The lead foot battle decides who gets to land the straight shots, and Puello knows exactly how to make that miserable for an orthodox opponent. If Smith is sloppy with his feet, he will spend the first half of the fight getting tagged by a left hand he did not see coming.
The Home Crowd Factor
Fighting in your own city is a gift and a trap. The noise lifts you, but it also makes a young champion want to impress. Smith has to resist the urge to look for the early knockout and trust the process.
How Smith Wins
He wins with pressure, with the jab to the body and by taking away the space Puello needs to counter. The longer the fight goes, the more those shots to the ribs eat into a counter-puncher’s legs.
Smith is the unbeaten champion and Puello is the man trying to take it off him, and I think the gap in power is the difference. If you know, you know.
Luke’s Verdict
Puello will make the early rounds hard work and I would not be surprised to see him up on a card or two after six. But the pressure tells, and Smith finds the body in the second half.
My prediction: Dalton Smith by stoppage in the ninth or tenth round, and the Utilita Arena erupts.
Check the full card on our fight schedule and keep up with the build-up on the news page.