Chris Oliver previews Saturday night's big fight between Dalton Smith and Alberto Puello in Sheffield, live on DAZN.
Boxing betting tips: Saturday October 24
1pt Dalton Smith to win by stoppage 4/1 (General)
There are no easy touches for Dalton Smith as he makes the first defence of his WBC super lightweight crown against Alberto Puello back on home territory in Sheffield on Saturday night, live on DAZN.
Smith produced one of the best away wins from a British fighter in recent memory when taking the belt from Subriel Matias at the Barclays Center in New York at the start of the year. It wasn’t so much that he prevailed as an underdog that made the win so impressive, but more so the manner in which he did it.
Everybody expected Smith to use his boxing skills against the relentless and heavy-handed champion, but he took the fight to Matias and beat him at his own game. Smith matched the high work rate of the Puerto Rican, traded power shots at close quarters and stopped Matias when dropping him in the fifth round.
Following that superb victory to claim the title, few would have begrudged Smith a soft first defence, but that’s not how he’s built and the Yorkshireman has a real test on his hands with Puello.
Puello (25-1, 11 KOs) is a previous holder of this belt, as well as the WBA strap, and only lost this title via a split decision to Matias when suffering his sole defeat in July 2025.
There was nothing in that fight and it could have gone either way, as Puello used his slick footwork and tidy boxing skills against the aggressive Matias, who ploughed forward and landed plenty of heavy leather.
So, if Puello lost to Matias and Matias was stopped by Smith, then why isn’t the latter shorter than a top price of 4/7? Well, boxing maths doesn’t work that way and Puello, who can be backed at 13/8, is a real live underdog here.
Different test for Smith
The challenger represents a completely different test for Smith than the one he passed to claim the belt earlier in the year. While Matias was all about applying front-foot pressure and detonating his power shots, Puello is a skilful southpaw who utilises plenty of lateral movement and picks his shots well with sharp counters.
The man from the Dominican Republic has long levers, which he makes the most of with a good jab, and he is very accurate to boot. His technical ability and experience could present plenty of problems for Smith.
However, the reverse also applies, and Smith’s devastating performance against Matias will have not only sent shockwaves through the 140lbs division, but it also gave Team Puello an awful lot to think about.
Smith displayed a high output that night, the kind that Puello didn’t seem comfortable with at times against Matias, and the local man also showed the power he carries with that stoppage victory, so he is the puncher in this fight.
The 29-year-old is no one-trick pony, though, and he is also a very intelligent boxer, with a solid jab and excellent feet. He rarely wastes a shot either, having shown a patient approach and sniper-like accuracy in the past.
He is also much more seasoned than his perfect 19-fight record (14 KOs) as a professional would suggest, as he travelled the world as a top-class amateur and has gained plenty of experience by going the traditional British, Commonwealth and European title route in the paid ranks.
With the backing of a passionate home crowd at the Utilita Arena, I fancy Smith to maintain his upward trajectory and make a successful first defence of his newly-acquired title.
Smith to find another gear
Given Puello’s ring smarts and his only loss coming via a close decision, it’s no surprise to see Smith to win on points a top price of just 6/5 and that is a worthy favourite in the method of victory market. However, there are a few reasons to suggest another big stoppage victory for the favourite could be too big at 4/1.
Firstly, I expect Smith to step up another gear after becoming a world champion. We have seen it happen time and again when a fighter raises their game to a new level after first capturing a title and it’s easy to envisage Smith doing the same, especially in his big homecoming bout.
Another thing that he seems to enjoy is facing southpaws, as he always fared well against them as an amateur and he produced a huge performance against the last one he faced as a professional. The durable Jose Zapeda, who was a three-time world title challenger, was expected to give Smith all sorts of trouble in March 2024, but the latter gave the best performance of his career to date and wiped Zapeda out with a body shot in the fifth round.
Also, it is worth noting that Puello only scraped past Gary Antuanne Russell and Sandor Martin by split decision in his two fights before the Matias loss, so there are chinks in his armour.
This is a real fight and that’s how it should be when you’re defending a world title, but Smith is on a real roll at the moment and he can provide those who back him to win by stoppage at a tasty price a real good run for their money.
Posted at 1140 BST on 22/10/26
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