Junior Witter hopes Dalton Smith will bring back WBC glory days

The Steel City star wants to become WBC world champion in the highly competitive super-lightweight division.

Former Ingle boxer Junior Witter realised that dream in 2006, beating fancied American rival DeMarcus Corley in London.

Today, Witter is hoping history can repeat itself, and Smith can be a second Sheffield-trained fighter to bring the belt back to the city.

He has studied how Smith has developed under the watchful eye of his father and trainer Grant and, given a fair wind, feels he can go to the very top.

But Witter also feels the 28-year-old may need to improve his marketability out of the ring so he attracts the big names in the sport in the years ahead.

"I think Dalton is a really good boxer. He has got decent power - not a massive punch but a good punch. He has got good technique, and his timing is really good," says the 51-year-old, who runs his own gym in Rotherham.

"He seems to be at the elite level, he is very capable.

"More than anything else, he has got the patience that you need in the ring, and that is massive. You can be born with that patience and timing, and it can be trained into you. Whichever it was, he has it.

"This is his time now; he has got to embrace it."

Witter says improvements can always be made.

"Technically, he could do with a bit more spite, but he has a brain for boxing and the ability to see a plan through.

"If something is going wrong, some fighters panic, but I think Dalton will be calm under pressure, and that is really hard to drill into a young man.

"He has speed, works well with his dad; there is nothing not to like.

"Maybe he needs to let everybody know who he is and what he can do. He needs a bit more swagger.

"Dalton believes in himself and should show the world that, like David Beckham did in football and Lewis Hamilton did in F1. They showed the confidence that they had."

The Handsworth boxer has to be more outgoing and forthright, it is vital to have the right profile that attracts fans and viewers, Witter said.

"When he talks, (publicly) he has to concentrate on whoever has got the belt that he wants. You have to step it up to get the fights you want.

"Matchroom will help in that."

The pair may have shared the same weight division but says Junior: "We are completely different. I have my flair, which was unique, and maybe he needs a bit more showmanship...but he is producing results.

"Dalton can become a world champion if he gets the right fight on the right night. It is always a question of timing.

"Not everyone thought Amir Khan would be a champion, but he picked the right fights at the right time and got better and achieved what he did.

"Dalton has got the skills, and there is no reason why he shouldn't do it."

Smith aims to continue his ascent towards WBC glory on April 19, when he fights Canada's Mathieu Germain in a scheduled 12-rounder at the Park Community Arena, Sheffield.