Dalton Smith, a 28-year-old Super-Lightweight from Sheffield - home to Naseem Hamed once upon a time - will seek to tread in the Prince's footsteps when he boxes WBC Champ Subriel Matias in New York on Saturday night. Smith has pedigree, and a chance against the relentless Matias.
At the Barclays Centre, Brooklyn on Saturday Sheffield's Dalton Smith will have the type of fight every boxer craves. Or so this bystander speculates. In Subriel Matias, the WBC Super-Lightweight champion, Smith has an opponent of sufficient quality and status to help him discover just how good he really is.
Belts offer prestige of course, the famous venue, the spotlight provide the memories and the attached pay cheque creates long-term financial security, but only an opponent who will demand the ultimate examination of what Smith has as a fighter can provide the answer to the question of 'how good am I?'.
Matias, now aged 33 and at the lucrative end of a 10-year career, boasts a 23-2 (22ko) record and is inevitably the betting favourite as the first bell approaches. This will be his third fight in six months - which is rare activity for a an elite professional these days.
The champion arrives with the cloud of an adverse finding which delayed the original fight date floating in the background, it is a recurring theme in boxing that promotes the conclusion that use is rife and apparently only engenders corporate facilitation from sanctioning bodies and promoters loathed to lose pay days.
Therefore, the WBC belt remains on the line and Matias is unquestionably a strong, hard punching and relentless foe for Smith who has boxed at a slightly lower level of competition thus far. Smith has good attributes of hand speed, precision and seems to boast a mature mix of composure and aggression in his work. He has won the British title outright and been the Commonwealth and European Champion at the weight during his 18-0 (13ko) career as well as having been an excellent Amateur too. Both men are orthodox in their stance and there is strong potential for an eye-catching mesh of styles with Smith holding an advantage in height too.
Watch Dalton Smith battle Matthieu Germain in 2025 here:
At 28, Smith has youth on his side and has boxed a similar number of rounds but in half the time having debuted in May 2019 four years after Matias began boxing for pay. In terms of that style match up, there is certainly scope to have faith in Smith. He is busy but not reckless, commits to attacks and is capable of being in and out of distance while landing with counters or lead combinations. Angles and off-setting Matias will be key if Smith is to build on the scorecards away from home.
Matias is notoriously a slow starter, as punchers sometimes are. 22 knockout wins in 23, including a run of forcing opponents to quit between rounds, substantiate the view he is the bigger puncher. However, once stirred, Matias does square up in attack. His back foot comes round and his shoulders follow. Making a bigger target and a vulnerability to sharp counters if Smith can land and vanish, or smother. The Champion's activity is outstanding however, this will be his third fight in six months - and activity is an undervalued aspect of fighter performance and many good fighters have failed to repel or evade Matias once he begins to motor and crowd.
However, in Matias' June 2024 loss to Australian Liam Paro, he started slowly and permitted the little known Paro to land combinations and accumulate rounds. He tried hard to overwhelm the gutsy Aussie as the middle rounds unfolded but discovered a resolute and focussed opponent. I see some similarities between Paro and Smith. Smith may be a heavier hitter too.
Away from home against a confident and established fighter like Matias it is hard to be confident of a win for Smith, because his eye-catching work has been against people levels below the one he will box Saturday. Matias' most recent win - a contentious one versus Alberto Puello - showed a man with vulnerabilities; Matias edged a MD12, but it also revealed Puello to probably be superior to anyone on Smith's ledger. So it speaks to the potential for a third Matias loss but the evidence Smith can follow that blue print and capitalise is, as mentioned, provided in fights with lesser opponents than Matias or Puello.
If Smith can start well, keep Matias off balance and gain his respect with his offence there is scope for an upset. Either way it has the ingredients for an entertaining watch because neither fighter looks likely to succumb easily. Should he accomplish it, Smith will provide a much needed boost to British boxing and a current landscape in need of a new face at world level.
UK fans can view via a vastly over-priced Pay Per View option.