EDDIE HEARN seems confident in delivering not only a world title fight, but also the chance for Dalton Smith to become a household name on British soil.
It was not so long ago that Smith, 18-0 (13 KOs), faced off with Subriel Matias, expecting to secure a shot at the newly-crowned WBC super-lightweight champion for November 22.
Boxing paymaster Turki Alalshikh had, after all, promised the Sheffield man, who is also the WBC mandatory challenger, an enticing slot on the undercard of David Benavidez vs Anthony Yarde.
Yet since then, it has emerged that Smith will no longer face Matias, 23-2 (22 KOs), in Saudi Arabia but, instead, could end up travelling just a stone’s throw away from his gaff.
Just moments before the pair went nose-to-nose in the ring, Matias had become a two-time world champion after edging a highly-contentious majority decision against Alberto Puello last month.
Prior to that, the Puerto Rican, who was previously considered a boogeyman at 140lbs, had lost his IBF title following a comprehensive unanimous decision defeat to Liam Paro last year.
Smith, meanwhile, has hardly had the same exposure at world level, with his most notable victory, which culminated in a clinical fifth-round finish, arriving against a faded version of Jose Zepeda last year.
Since then, the 28-year-old has amassed comfortable wins over Walid Ouizza and Mathieu Germain – two unremarkable customers – ahead of what should be his first stab at world honours.
With a WBC purse bid scheduled for next week, though, it would seem that neither Smith nor Matias are likely to earn the same lucrative paydays they had initially anticipated.
But still, with Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn fighting his corner, perhaps Smith will nonetheless secure himself a significant advantage over his opponent.
“Obviously, we were expecting that fight to land on November 22,” Hearn told Boxing News.
“[Alalshikh] did try and make that fight, [but] I believe that he couldn’t agree terms with Matias, which was frustrating.
“Now, purse bids are set for next Tuesday, so we’ve got to make sure that we win that purse bid.
“We are talking to [Matias’ manager] Luis DeCubas, and we are hopeful that a deal can be reached for [Matias-Smith] so that we don’t have to go to purse bids.
“But we’re ready to bid for that fight. We’d love to bring that fight to Sheffield.”
