Dalton Smith embracing British title before emulating Prince Nazeem Hamed and Kell Brook as king of Sheffield boxing

The 25-year-old claimed the super lightweight Lonsdale belt with a sixth-round stoppage of Sam O’maison, who had been put down by Smith in the third and twice more in the sixth, at the Sheffield Arena on Saturday.

It was a clinical performance from Smith who moved his professional record to 12-0.

The victory added to the Sheffield fighter’s collection of belts after he had claimed the English, WBA inter-continental and the WBC international silver titles in recent bouts. Smith has his sights set on becoming a world champion further down the line but is taking a little bit of time out before thinking about his next move.

“The end goal is to be a world champion. To win a British title is something I have wanted to do for a long, long time,” said Smith, who headed to Croatia for a well-deserved rest yesterday.

“I used to go through my fights and never enjoy them. I said to myself when I win this British belt I am going to forget about the next fight. I am going to embrace it.

“Sometimes you can burn yourself out so I am going to switch off for a week.”

After putting his opponent down in the third round, Smith’s trainer – who is also his father – told him to keep his cool before he found the winning combination in the sixth.

“All I had in the back of my head was that I couldn’t lose. I wouldn’t have been able to walk the streets of Sheffield if I lost,” he added.

“I thought I just needed to keep my left hand up and the stoppage will come.

“All due respect to Sam, he is a tough kid but I just keep showing my class every time.”

Kell Brook, the former IBF world welterweight champion who retired from the sport in May, was at ringside on Saturday night.

Brook, along with the likes of former featherweight world champion Prince Naseem Hamed, was one of many fighters from Sheffield who Smith looked up to growing up.

Now he feels it is his turn to bring the big nights back to his home city.

“I feel like I am going to carry the torch now. I looked up to the likes of Kell Brook, Naz and even Ryan Rhodes who was in the opposite corner,” he added.

“I used to go and watch them and they used to inspire me.”

Although Smith was in no mood to think about his next move, his promoter Eddie Hearn has already discussed what that could be for the super lightweight. Hearn has tipped Smith to go to the top of the sport and believes he will fill out the Sheffield Arena for years to come.

Kaisee Benjamin is Smith’s mandatory challenger for the British belt but Hearn is unsure if the Sheffield boxer will defend his title. “This kid is going to fill this place for years and years to come. A star is born,” added Hearn. “He is a world-class fighter. He is levels above British level but Kaisee Benjamin is the mandatory if we choose to keep the title. I would like to see him progress to European and world titles.”