Dalton Smith Edges Alberto Puello by Split Decision to Keep WBC Title in Sheffield

Dalton Smith is still the WBC super lightweight champion, but Alberto Puello made him earn every bit of it. In front of his hometown crowd at Utilita Arena Sheffield on Saturday, Smith won a split decision over the former two-time champion in his first title defense.

Two judges scored it 115-113 for Smith. The third had it 116-112 for Puello, per Matchroom Boxing's official scorecards.

A chess match that went down to the wire

For a stretch, it looked like Smith was pulling away. IFL TV's ringside account had him "simply outboxing Puello through eight rounds." Then Puello came on late, and by the final two rounds IFL called it "a chess match" that "could potentially go either way." When the cards were read, The Ring and Boxing News both reported the same thing: Smith by split decision, title retained.

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Smith came in unbeaten at 19-0 with 14 knockouts, per The Ring, so the win keeps his perfect record intact. Both men had weighed in at exactly 139.6 pounds on Friday, as we covered in our weigh-in story.

What's next for Smith

Before this fight, Smith made no secret that he'd like a shot at Shakur Stevenson down the road, while insisting Puello came first. We wrote about that in Dalton Smith Has Shakur on His Mind, But Puello Comes First. A close split decision may not be the statement he wanted, but he's through it with the belt.

On the undercard

• Giorgio Visioli beat Maxi Hughes by majority decision (95-95, 96-94, 96-94) for the WBC International Silver lightweight title.
• Heavyweight Leo Atang stopped Jonathan Vergara in the first round to go 9-0.
• Shannon Ryan stopped Emma Dolan in the first round of their super flyweight rematch.

The night isn't over. Emanuel Navarrete and O'Shaquie Foster meet later Saturday in San Antonio in a three-belt unification (our weigh-in story). You can still lock in your call on Boxbid's Fight Picker, which is free and just for fun.

Result and scores are from Matchroom Boxing's official posts, The Ring and Boxing News on Saturday, Oct. 24. Photo: Matchroom Boxing.