DALTON Smith is fast approaching a shot at the world title and is ready to bring a championship mindset to the Sheffield ring on Saturday evening. Overlooking opponent Mathieu Germain, as the carrot of a WBC title shot at champion Alberto Puello lingers, is not even an option.
“I’m not meaning to be different or anything. It must just be natural, but I’m focused,” said Smith at this afternoon’s press conference.
“I’m hungry and Mathieu Germain knows with my energy, the way I prepared for the fight, the way I’ve approached the fight, I’m not looking at this fight as though the job’s already done. I’ve had some great sparring over and I probably had one of my best camps. 2025 is going to be a big year for me and that’s why I’ve approached this fight like it is my world title.”
Rather than feeling additional pressure at this stage of his career, the 28-year-old reckons there is less stress on his mind than when he was building steadily at the embryonic stages of his 17-fight run.
“There’s no stresses because I work too hard for it. I feel no pressure. What is the pressure? The only pressure is I’m doing it for myself, I’m doing it for the team around me, it’s nobody else.”
Canadian opponent Mathieu Germain has twice faltered as a pro, getting stopped both times. With 13 KOs on his slate, Smith will no doubt be looking to test the visitor’s beard sooner rather than later. Surely Germain will bring more resilience than Smith’s last victim, France’s Walid Ouizza, who stumbled and crumbled inside a round as Dalton rode home to European title glory.
“Yeah of course he’s [Germain] going to be confident. I want him to be confident, I don’t want fighters coming over where they [are] making up the numbers. [It’s a] big opportunity for him. I’ve seen some of the footage on him, he’s been in with some good kids. He’s a solid operator,” agreed Smith.
“I’m not overlooking Saturday night but I believe I’m going to go in there prepared. I’m expecting a big performance. No disrespect, but deal with Mathieu Germain, then I want to go hunting down Alberto Puello for the WBC world title. I’m not saying this to be try and build something up. I’m just hungry and I want something more than ever.”
