DALTON SMITH is no longer the European super-lightweight champion.
The 27-year-old ended a 10-month absence from the ring last Saturday night to demolish Walid Ouizza in one round and win the vacant EBU belt.
His performance at the Nottingham Arena was an impressive start to 2025 for the Sheffield fighter who also showcased his power to finish former world title challenger Jose Zepeda in March last year.
Smith, 17-0 (13 KOs), will now move towards bigger tests on the world scene, having relinquished his European title after just four days as champion. The WBC number two contender could soon become the mandatory challenger to champion Alberto Puello. Last week, the WBC published a Status Per Division report revealing that Smith ‘Will fight a final elimination for the next mandatory position.’
Puello makes his own mandatory defence against Sandor Martin on March 1 in New York. Should Martin win, however, he will be allowed a voluntary defence.
Smith’s decision to vacate his European title is good news for Ireland’s Pierce O’Leary, 16-0 (9 KOs). The EBU has declared that the 24-year-old will fight for the vacant belt against Spain’s Jon Fernandez, 26-3 (22 KOs), with purse bids scheduled for February 20.
O’Leary currently sits 11th in the WBC super-lightweight rankings, nine spots behind Smith, but a win over Fernandez could see him enter the top 10. The Dubliner boxed three times in 2024, beating Hovhannes Martirosyan, Darragh Foley and Jose Edgardo Perdomo, respectively.
Facing Fernandez, who went 10 rounds with current WBC super-featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster in 2018, should represent O’Leary’s toughest test to date.
