Dalton Smith kept his WBC light welterweight strap in Sheffield, but his reputation took a beating against Alberto Puello.

Eddie Hearn is already talking up a stadium blockbuster against Shakur Stevenson. That talk conveniently skips past the reality left inside the ring: Smith did not convince viewers he solved the man in front of him.

Domestic rival Adam Azim quickly called out the verdict, backing fans who saw the split decision as generous. Two judges handed Smith 115-113 cards, while the third had Puello cruising 116-112.

“Puello won by one round, in my opinion,” Azim told RS Boxing TV, pointing directly to Smith’s lack of urgency.

The deeper issue was how Smith faded down the stretch. Once Puello timed him, Smith went into a shell. His output cratered because every attack opened him up to clean counters.

Instead of building on early rounds, Smith spent the championship rounds fighting in a safety-first manner. He was getting outboxed right when a champion needs to close the show.

Normally, that kind of performance demands an immediate rematch. Matchroom is instead trying to fast-track Smith straight into a massive event with Shakur. The commercial angle makes sense while Smith still holds the belt, but a stadium fight cannot answer the tactical problems Puello exposed.

If Puello made Smith freeze, Shakur’s precision and defensive discipline would make every mistake punishing. Saturday showed zero evidence Smith is ready for that jump. Winning a controversial decision was not the performance Smith needed for Hearn to campaign for a fight with Shakur.

A rematch with Puello is the fight that makes sense. It offers Smith a chance to adjust, keep his work rate up, and earn an undisputed result.

Hearn can sell the official victory, but the ring tells the truth. The belt stayed in Sheffield, while the performance wrecked the case for throwing Smith in with Shakur.