Dalton Smith prepares for boxing's Matchstick Man

He will loom over Sheffield's Dalton Smith on Saturday, when the pair dispute ownership of the vacant European super lightweight title, at Nottingham Arena.

A height and reach advantage could be important for the 33-year-old veteran.

And he has won senior European titles before, so the Steel City camp won't be taking superficial looks as any guarantee of an easy night.

Smith, 27, has only himself to consider.

He has only boxed once in 19 months... and competed in just 12 rounds in nearly two years.

He's had to wait for a pesky shoulder injury to heal.

So will there be any rustiness in his approach against the tall visitor from the Grand Paris metropolis?

"What's rusty? I'll get the old WD40 out" laughed Dalton.

"You are only rusty if you stay out of the gym.

"I've obviously kept in it and had some good sparring.

"We don't have ring rust."

Smith admits that making the 140 lbs weight harder as he gets older, yet still delivers the target "comfortably," thanks in part to a nutritionist from Liverpool University.

He said: "Towards the end of my career, I might move up, but not now."

That career is on an upward trajectory and a European win over Ouizza could lead to a world title or a title eliminator later in 2025, along the WBC route.

"That's the plan, but for now I have one job and that is on Saturday night."

The boxer won't be overwhelmed with nerves, despite the gravity of the European challenge.

He said he suffers the same nerves that most people to, but in his case, they arrive "in waves" when he is sat thinking about the bout ahead.

"I have always said if you don't have nerves, then something is wrong.

"There are fighters who are great in the gym but can't handle the nerves on fight night.

"For me, I have experience behind me, I have had enough fights and know how to control the nerves and stay in the right mind frame.

"As long as I am focused for those 36 minutes, that is all I have to worry about."

Meanwhile, Barnsley's Callum Simpson, who defended his British super-middleweight title earlier this month, will fight in London on the undercard of Adam Azim v Sergey Lipinets show.

He will take on Ghana’s Elvis Ahorgah on February 1, for the South Yorkshireman's Commonwealth title, at Wembley Arena.