Super lightweights Dalton Smith and Jose Zepeda square off Saturday, live on DAZN, with the winner expected to move closer to a world title opportunity.
Briton Smith heads into the fight undefeated and he plans to stays that way against experienced American Zepeda when the pair clash in Sheffield.
Zepeda is coming off a loss to Richardson Hitchins in Sept. 2023, his second defeat in his last three fights. The 34-year-old has already hinted that he would retire should he lose to Smith, as he doesn't see a way to another title shot if he suffers another defeat in such short order.
Despite this, Smith doesn't feel like he's meeting a fighter on the way down. The 27-year-old sees Zepeda as a worthy challenge at this stage of his career, and he's prepared for his older opponent to help him continue his way up the ladder in the division.
"We haven’t looked at Jose as a sliding fighter, he’s only lost at world level, none of those losses have been on the way down," Smith said at a pre-fight press conference on Thursday.
"That’s why we took this fight and we’ve prepared for the best of Jose; he’s only interested in the biggest fights so his career is on the line in this fight and it’s a step-up for me and the opportunity to propel my career onto the world level.
"It’s a jump in class but you’ve seen the level that I’ve progressed through, I’ve been ready for that level for probably two fights now, so this is the perfect time for me now to propel myself and chase those bigger things.
As for how Saturday's fight will go, Smith said there is a lot of similarities between himself and Zepeda but he believes being the smarter boxer will help lead him to victory.
"He’s a massive puncher, but so am I," Smith said. "It’s going to be one hell of a fight. I believe I’ve got the better boxing brain but, in any fight, you go into, you’ve got to be switched on, you cannot switch off as that’s how you lose in boxing, switching off for a second.
"So, I am switched on for 12 rounds, looking for the biggest performance so far in my career and I can’t wait to show you all."
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