Dalton Smith is not considering giving Adam Azim a shot at the WBC title should he be victorious against Alberto Puello later this year.

Smith is the No. 1 ranked contender with the WBC at 140lbs and the mandatory challenger for the belt that is currently held by Puello. The champion, Puello, is allowed one voluntary defense of his belt before he is ordered to face Smith.

Smith has elected to stay busy ahead of fighting Puello later this year and will face Canadian

Mathieu Germain this Saturday in Sheffield, England. A fighter that always seems to be mentioned alongside Smith’s name is IBO junior welterweight beltholder Adam Azim.

Azim, the then European champion, was ordered to face Smith but chose to vacate the EBU title and took another path. Azim and his coach Shane McGuigan were vocal on how the fight needed to grow before they would sign and while Smith has not given up on the fight he admits his interests lie elsewhere.

“I only wanted the European title,” Smith told BoxingScene. “But of course, he's gone down a different route than me. I want to be a WBC world champion, not IBO. Of course, he's gone down that route, and maybe one day we’ll meet.”

Smith was asked if the fight would become more likely if he were to secure the WBC title with a win over Puello: “Not really, because I’m not going to give him an opportunity to fight for a proper belt,” he said. “Go and fight a big name, go and fight a [Jose] Zepeda, go and fight one of those names. Then he’s there in his spot.”

A fight that could be more likely is one with promotional stablemate Jack Catterall. The Chorley fighter recently lost in a final eliminator to Arnold Barboza Jnr to decide the mandatory challenger for Teofimo Lopez’s title. Catterall was narrowly beaten on a split decision and is now looking for another route to a world title.

Smith could be an ideal route for Catterall considering his position with the WBC and it’s one that Smith is open to.

“Of course, boxing's a business. If it makes sense, then it's a fight,” Smith said. “Of course, there's no bad blood there with me and Jack, but as a fighter, you need the British dance partners. And like you say, if it makes sense, if it's good business, it makes sense, then so be it, of course. I've got a lot respect for Jack because he helped me with my development growing up. I used to go up there sparring with him and stuff. But Jack's obviously chasing those big names, the big fights, and of course, he's a world-class fighter.”

Catterall struggled to cement a footing in the fight against Barboza and Smith is not taking anything from that performance.

“I just think, on my day, I'll beat anyone,” he said. “I don't have confidence from somebody else's performances. At the end of the day, that's world level. It's the fine margins and it was a close fight. So I'm not going to take confidence from someone having a loss. I know I'm confident from my own abilities. Jack, for me, is a world-class fighter, so is Barboza.”