‘I want to achieve my goals’: Smith focused on title shot, says he can fight Azim later

Dalton Smith is prioritizing a WBC title fight over an Adam Azim showdown.

Dalton Smith tells Sky Sports that his first priority is securing a world title opportunity, which he hopes will come very soon now that he’s been named WBC mandatory challenger at super lightweight — a title currently held by Alberto Puello who appears to be lined up for a voluntary defense against Subriel Matias this summer. With that being the case Smith is just waiting his turn.

Of course there’s talk of a potential fight against Adam Azim, a fight that Smith says absolutely will happen at some point, but he’s got bigger fish to fry for the moment. As Smith sees it, he’s just one fight away from achieving his goal of being world champion and he doesn’t plan on taking an immediate detour just for the sake of an Azim fight.

“I want to win a world title first but the Azim fight will always be there,” Smith said. “There’s too much noise for it not to happen on my behalf and his behalf. The fight’s eventually going to happen, it’s too high of a demand.

“Whatever the fights, while I’m winning and the fights get bigger, my career doesn’t stall for Adam Azim. I want to achieve my goals and that’s to become a world champion. I’m one fight away from achieving that.”

Even still, looking towards an eventual matchup with Azim, Smith says that he believes he has Azim’s number, and because of that he’s not particularly concerned about what Azim will bring to the table. For now though, Smith is keeping his eyes on the prize while he expects to turn his attention to Azim soon thereafter.