Dalton Smith retained the WBC junior welterweight title with a split-decision win over Alberto Puello in Sheffield, England, according to ESPN's November 2 divisional rankings update and the World Boxing Council's own fight report.
Two judges scored the fight 115-113 for Smith, while the third had it 116-112 for Puello. Puello, a two-time junior welterweight champion, threw more punches than Smith but struggled with accuracy, landing just 12 percent of his punches compared with Smith's 20 percent, according to CompuBox figures cited by ESPN.
Smith was making the first defence of the title he won with a fifth-round TKO over Subriel Matias in January, and the bout — originally scheduled for June before an elbow injury forced Smith to withdraw — was fought in front of his home crowd at Sheffield's Utilita Arena. Smith finished the fight with a cut over his right eye from an accidental clash of heads in the tenth round, but held on through a tactical, closely contested twelve rounds.
The win extends Smith's unbeaten record to 20-0, and keeps him at No. 3 in ESPN's junior welterweight rankings, with Puello holding on to No. 4. Promoter Eddie Hearn made the plan clear in the ring, saying next must be unifications, and Smith has said he wants a dream stadium fight at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough ground. A unification against Shakur Stevenson or Gary Antuanne Russell has been floated as the target, though no next opponent has been confirmed.