Dalton Smith has a tattoo on his chest that reads 'never give up on life,' which is precisely what he has had to do after this Saturday's world title fight was plunged into doubt two months ago.
Smith (18-0, 13 KOs), 28, from Sheffield, kept faith and remained training for the shot at WBC junior welterweight champion Subriel Matias (23-2, 22 KOs), despite the Puerto Rican testing positive for ostarine, a banned substance, in November. As it was a small amount, the WBC is allowing Matias to defend its title at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and has put him on probation for a year.
Smith is not dwelling on whether Matias should have been stripped of the title and penalised ahead of his first world title shot.
"It has been up in the air, but it is going ahead and I've blocked out all the noise," Smith told ESPN.
"When it first came out, I thought my world title opportunity has been taken away from me for something I didn't do. But we have still got the fight, the title is still on the line.
"I've shut myself away from all the noise, all the news about the failed drug test. I've just trained hard like it has been a normal fight, I've not focused on what has been happening with him. I've got my opinions on it all but right now it's irrelevant and I will speak my opinions after the fight when the time is right.
"I'm confident I will come out victorious, but he's a great fighter, you don't get his record for not being one. You don't win two world titles like he did without being a good fighter. I could comment further on it but I believe there is a right time for that."
Matias won the WBC belt with a majority points win over Alberto Puello in July, after losing the IBF world title in a second title defence on points to Liam Paro in June 2024.
Matias has a 95% KO ratio but Smith believes this is the perfect time for him to challenge for world honours after stopping three of his last four opponents,
"This fight has come at the right time for me," Smith told ESPN.
"I've come through the domestic scene, won the European title, so the next step is the world level."
Inspiration from father behind Dalton Smith's surge
Smith is trained by his father Grant, who was the inspiration behind his tattoo 'never give up on life'.
"It was my first tattoo, and my dad has the same tattoo," Smith told ESPN.
"My dad was really badly injured in an accident years ago, he was hospitalised after he was hit by a supertram while out for a run [in Sheffield]. He didn't give up on life, and that means a lot to me, it stuck with me. The doctors said he wouldn't make it, but he didn't give up and came through. I was about eight or nine year old at the time. My dad has been a massive influence on my boxing career, people said we would never get to this level where we are now, but here we are."
Smith is trying to become the latest world champion from Sheffield following the success of Kell Brook, Kid Galahad, Clinton Woods, Junior Witter, Naseem Hamed, Johnny Nelson and Paul Jones.
"Sheffield has always been a city with a good boxing scene. I've looked up to a lot of them, watched them while I was growing up, so to be able to join them as the next world champion from Sheffield will be a proud moment," Smith told ESPN.