British contender Dalton Smith to face veteran Jose Zepeda

FIGHT WEEK

British 140-pound contender Dalton Smith may face his hardest take a look at but when he meets veteran Jose Zepeda on Saturday in Sheffield, England.

DALTON SMITH (15-0, 11 KOs)
VS. JOSE ZEPEDA (37-4, 28 KOs)

• Date: Saturday, March 23
• Time: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (primary occasion later in present)
• The place: Sheffield Enviornment, Sheffield, England
• TV/Stream: DAZN
• Division: Junior welterweight (140 kilos)
• At stake: No main titles
• Pound-for-pound: None
• Odds: Smith 2½-1 favourite (common of a number of retailers)
• Significance (as much as 5 stars): ***

• Additionally on the cardboard: Sandy Ryan vs. Terri Harper, welterweights (for Ryan’s WBO title); Campbell Hatton vs. James Flint, junior welterweights; Ishmael Davis vs. Troy Williamson, junior middleweights

• Background: Smith, who holds the British 140-pound championship, has made his mark on the nationwide and European degree. Now it’s time to tackle the world. That begins with a struggle in opposition to three-time world title challenger Zepeda in Smith’s hometown of Sheffield. Smith, 27, is a well-schooled boxer-puncher. His energy was on full show in his most up-to-date bout, by which he overcame a number of cuts to knock out Londoner Sam Maxwell with a single proper hand within the seventh spherical final July. That victory adopted unanimous choices over Kaisee Benjamin and Billy Allington in 2022 and early final yr. Smith is ranked No. 12 by the WBC. Zepeda, 34, can’t afford to lose if he hopes to stay a related fighter. The Los Angeles-area fighter has had his share of success – together with victories over Ivan Baranchyk, Jose Pedraza and Hank Lundy – however he’s 1-2 in his final three fights and has failed in three makes an attempt to seize a world title. He had unhealthy luck in his first attempt, when he dislocated his shoulder and needed to stop after two rounds in opposition to then-champion Terry Flanagan in 2015. He got here closest to profitable one when he misplaced a majority resolution to then-titlist Jose Ramirez in 2019. Then, in November 2022, he was stopped in 11 rounds by Regis Prograis. He was almost shut out by Richardson Hitchins final September, elevating questions on his future as an elite boxer.