Dalton Smith forced to say goodbye to European title fight with Jon Fernandez

Dalton Smith may have to move on from his long-planned EBU title fight with Jon Fernandez but the undefeated junior welterweight is determined to remain positive. 

The vacant title fight with Fernandez, 26-3 (22 KOs), was initially scheduled for September but Smith was ruled out of both that date and a possible December rescheduling by injury.

Matchroom hoped to push the fight back until February but, understandably, the Spaniard’s team were unwilling to wait that long and so the EBU decided to replace Smith with the unbeaten Pierce O’Leary and install the man from Sheffield as the next mandatory challenger for the title.

Smith and his team then informed the EBU that he didn’t want to accept the position of mandatory challenger for the winner of the fight between Fernandez and O’Leary.

In March, Smith looked every inch the world level contender when he expertly handled a sizable step up in quality and stopped Jose Zepeda in five rounds. 

The 27-year-old had hoped that collecting the EBU title would provide him with the ideal platform from which he could launch an attack on a lively world scene but he has instead been handed a watching brief.

“It’s frustrating. Obviously coming off the Zepeda win, it’d have been nice to keep the momentum. We, of course, got the injuries and stuff that delayed it a bit but what can you do? It’s boxing,” Smith told Boxing Now. “We’re training and pushing our bodies hard every single day. Things are gonna happen. So, you can’t let it get to you. You just bide your time. It’ll be a couple of months and we’ll get back on track.”

The injury came at exactly the wrong time for Smith who has boxed just three times in two years.

The Zepeda fight was an inspired piece of matchmaking and the ideal way for the talented Smith to leave the British scene behind and announce himself as a true threat to the 140lb division’s top operators. 

Despite his long lay-off, Smith won’t want to tread water and his decision to move away from the EBU title situation makes it more likely that his next fight will be another well picked, meaningful step up into true world class. 

Smith now finds himself mixing with fighters who will ruthlessly take advantage of even the smallest sign of ring rust. Although he may not have been active in the ring, the former British champion has stayed in the gym throughout his absence and insists that consistency and self-discipline will ensure that he is ready for whoever or whatever comes next. 

“I never really go off track. I think from the Zepeda fight I had about a week off. A bit of time in-between to go on holidays and stuff but I’m always in the gym so I’m never gonna lose progress,” he said. “The only way I’m gonna lose progress is a bit of inactivity but when you’re sparring in-between. you go through the motions, you’re in the gym every day. It’s part of life. I never lose momentum like that. I’m never blowing up in weight or going out on the piss.”

John Evans has contributed to a number of well-known publications and websites for over a decade. You can follow John on X @John_Evans79