Dalton Smith edges Alberto Puello to retain WBC title in Sheffield homecoming

Dalton Smith retained his WBC super-lightweight title with a split decision win over Alberto Puello in Sheffield, surviving a tense final reckoning in front of his hometown crowd.

Two judges scored it 115-113 in Smith's favour, while a third had it 116-112 for Puello, a card that credited the challenger with eight of the twelve rounds, according to Independent Sport.

Smith, unbeaten at 20-0 with 14 knockouts, took the nod over Puello, the Dominican Republic fighter based in Las Vegas who dropped to 25-2 and suffered only his second defeat in 27 contests, Yahoo Sports reported.

Puello, a two-time former world champion known for his footwork and handspeed, controlled the opening exchanges behind a sharp jab that gave him an early lead on the cards.

Smith grew into the contest as it progressed, working behind solid body punching before shifting his attack to significant headshots as both men traded effective work downstairs, per Yahoo's account of the fight.

The closing rounds turned frantic, with Smith carrying a cut to his right cheek as each man searched for a finish that could have swung the verdict either way, Independent Sport noted.

Smith's own gym sits less than a mile from the arena, and the local following, including a drumming band in the crowd, backed him throughout a bout that went to the scorecards amid genuine uncertainty over the outcome.

"It's got to be Hillsborough now," Smith told the crowd after the decision was read. "I'm not taking easy defences, I'm not taking easy fights."

The win follows Smith's victory in January, when he stopped then-WBC champion Subriel Matias in the fifth round in New York, a fighter who had won 23 of his previous bouts, 22 by knockout. Puello was the only man to have taken Matias the distance, doing so in a disputed decision loss for the title in 2025.

Both Smith and Puello went into Saturday's fight aware that victory would move the winner closer to a potential unification clash with Shakur Stevenson of Newark, New Jersey, the WBO and Ring magazine champion, according to Yahoo Sports.

Independent Sport's Steve Bunce described the back-to-back wins over Matias and Puello as enough to make Smith Britain's outstanding boxer of the year, placing him among the leading candidates to face Stevenson next.

The Sheffield card also produced knockout wins for super-flyweight contender Shannon Ryan and teenage heavyweight prospect Leo Atang, Yahoo Sports reported.

Puello left the ring having lost the title for a second time by narrow margin, with trainer Ismael Salas having believed in his corner that the fight was won.

Attention now turns to where Smith fights next, with a prospective homecoming at Hillsborough floated alongside the possibility of a unification bout against Stevenson should that fight materialise.