“It was all for this moment,” said a euphoric Dalton Smith having slayed Subriel Matias in New York.
As Smith celebrated among his friends, including Mick Conlan, Junaid Boston, trainer and father Grant Smith, and Sunny Edwards, Smith reflected on his journey to the WBC junior welterweight title.
The 28-year-old Englishman, from Sheffield, took a congratulatory call from WBC boss Mauricio Sulaiman in the locker-room at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and later said: “There is no words. A lifelong dream of hard work, sacrifice, and it was all for this moment. “My dad, Grant, my whole family, it was all worth it. I always knew. I always believed. There’s a message to anyone, you believe in yourself, go out and chase your dreams.”
Many felt Smith’s only chanced to defeat Matias was to outbox him. But he slugged with the slugger and forced a big stoppage in round five.
“I think I remember there were a few people saying, ‘Dalton Smith ain’t tough.’ I think I gave my dad a little heart attack in there,” Smith smiled. “That actually wasn’t the game plan, I took all his best shots and I thought, ‘You cannot hurt me.’ I thought he was slowing down, I thought, ‘Persevere and persevere and I’m gonna get to you.’ That wasn’t the gameplan, but we had Plans B and C and at world level you’ve got to have them.”
Smith, now 19-0 (14 KOs), was asked what might come next as the WBC champion at 140lbs.
“I don’t think it’s going to sink in for quite a while,” he added. “We always knew when we believed in ourselves. We had everything against us for this fight. Everything was against us… I just thought, ‘This is my moment, this is my opportunity and you can throw anything at me.’
“Let me just enjoy this moment. I’ve worked my arse off for it and I’m going to embrace it. “I’m a world champion now and the future’s bright.”
