Dalton Smith targets Josh Taylor, Jack Catterall for a place ‘in the history books’ | Taylor gave his verdict on Smith’s potential | Boxing news | Biden News

British champion Dalton Smith is aiming to join Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall at the top of the heavyweight division.

His ambitions though all hinge on defending his title against Kaisee Benjamin at the Manchester Arena on November 12, live. Sky Sports.

“Maybe I’m in one of my splits and there’s a lot of battles ahead of me. I’ll always be in good fights. I’ll never lose my dance partners. The future is bright. There are some great fights. — fight there,” Smith said.

He expects Benjamin to be aggressive and wants to push him in the next month’s match.

“That’s going to play into my hands. The pressure fighters that I’ve fought that come forward – that’s when you see me at my best,” Smith said. Sky Sports.

“He’s a hero, he’s a professional now. But he’s nothing I’ve ever seen, obviously I respect him, I have to go in 100 percent but I feel like everything Kaisee is trying I will give him an answer.

“We’ll see, what happened in the first round and how they came out, I’m always ready for anything, I can adjust, I’m not sure Kaisee can adjust much. So we’ll see. .

“I can balance, I can go on the front foot, I can fight inside, I box very well on the back foot so any fighter who approaches in a different style, I can deal with. I’m always confident. Anyone the style I did. I’m with, I can adjust.”

If he can get past Benjamin and keep up his current momentum, Smith is on track, finally, to take on the best fighters in the exciting 140lb weight class.

Josh Taylor, who became the light heavyweight champion in 2021 and holds the WBO belt, chose Smith as a rising star in the division.

“He is a very talented player. I saw him in the GB team many years ago and I watch him too. He is very talented, he has all the moves. He definitely moves very well, so I am very happy to see him. how he’s progressing,” Taylor said Sky Sports.

“He’s doing all the right things, his work has gone well so far and he’s coming along well and at the right pace. I’m excited to see how he’s going and how he’s progressing and how he’s going through the stages.

“Obviously he has talent and drive. It’s hard to tell at the beginning of his career but I believe he can and has the ability to be a world champion, 100 percent.”

It’s a compliment to each other. “Even though he’s the same weight, they were idols for me coming up. I’ve always said that Josh pound-for-pound is one of the best fighters in the world. I’m a big fan of Catterall and Josh. They’re the top. the game, they’re where I want to be, they’re the fighters I’m looking for,” Smith said.

“They say keep working hard until your idols become your opponents. That’s what happened. Josh, pound-for-pound one of the best fighters in the world and to get comments like that, it shows that they keep an eye on me. and I’m impressed.”

Smith hopes to see Taylor and Catterall fight again, to settle the feud that began with a unanimous decision win for the title in February.

But despite his respect for both, these are the ultimate fighters for him. After defending Catterall again, Smith is confident he can join that class.

“I’m working up to those levels but sparring is always different. Nobody’s as upset as they say on fight night,” he said. “You can’t take too much from sparring because fighting is different.

“It’s exciting but I’m confident from the disappointment I’ve had that I’m definitely up at this level.”

His goal is not only to win the world cup, but also to inherit the mantle that Taylor holds as one champion.

“It’s every boxer’s dream. You want to win a world title. To be unusual, not many fighters do that. Only a few fighters do that. To be able to do that, that’s put you in the history books,” he said. .

“You are forever in the history books as one of the greatest fighters of all time.”

Listen to Dalton Smith on this week’s episode of the 2 Fingers podcast