Smith stood toe-to-toe with the dangerous WBC champion Subriel Matias and came out on top to clinch the belt with a famous victory in Brooklyn 10 months ago.

He was supposed to defend it in June against his mandatory challenger Puello, the two-time world champion, only for an undisclosed training injury to force a postponement.

When the fight finally came it was a nip-and-tuck affair, which was low on action and low on output.

In the end, all three judges were unable to agree on a winner but it was the champion who did just enough on two cards to clinch victory. Rey Danseco scored it 116-112 in Puello’s favor, but Jon Llona Fernandez and Kieran McCann had it 115-113 to Smith, handing him the narrowest available winning margin.

“I worked out his rhythm early on and I think he respected my power,” said Smith (20-0, 14 KOs), The Ring’s No. 1 junior welterweight. “He’s experienced, a lot more experienced than me, and that’s what I’ve taken now. I switched it off a little bit in the early rounds but I did enough to win the last couple so I’m very proud.”

In truth, this was a high-level chess match for the purists and the sort of fight that Smith will learn a lot from.

There was a festival atmosphere inside Utilita Arena for this homecoming maiden world title defense. Smith became Sheffield’s seventh world champion with his victory over Matias, but given he wore sky blue and was backed by a brass band throughout there were echoes of those famous Ricky Hatton nights in Manchester.

Like Hatton, Smith has steadily worked his way through the 140-pound ranks and was deserving of this occasion given what had happened in Brooklyn.

But Puello (25-2, 11 KOs), a 32-year-old southpaw, was never going to be the opponent to bring the explosive best out of Smith. Instead, this was all about being patient every second of every round.

Puello lost this WBC title to Matias via a contentious majority decision in July last year and was adamant he would not let the same thing happen again. However, from the outset, it was clear that was exactly what sort of fight this would be.

Smith rolled the dice with the odd right hand in the first few rounds while Puello, who snaked his left hand up from his waist, had small bursts of success, too.

“Do not lead with that backhand,” Smith’s father-trainer, Grant, told him before the start of the fourth. “You did it twice then and got away with it.”

He responded by only ever leading with his jab in a good fourth round for the champion, but the fifth was a solid one for Puello, who got through with a stiff left. He touched down briefly in the sixth but it was correctly ruled a slip. He finished that round on top.

It appeared as though the visitor from the Dominican Republic was growing into the fight, but the economical Smith, behind a high guard and hard jab, was giving absolutely nothing away. At the end of the seventh, he drilled a right hand bolo into Puello’s solar plexus but got a right hook to the head in return.

It was in keeping with the nip-and-tuck nature of the fight, which seemed to be in the balance as the pair headed into the fight’s final third. The heat began to rise steadily in the ninth, with both exchanging straight back hands and deciding to mix it occasionally on the inside for the first time though there was very little to choose between them.

It was more of the same in the 10th, but Smith was cut above the right eye which did little to help his cause. Then Puello made a very fast start to the 11th and had success with a double left hand. Smith sustained another cut, this time on the cheek, in the 12th from another left hand from Puello who never really built on his small breakthroughs.

As the fight entered its final 30 seconds, Smith’s corner began to celebrate and the champion responded by raising his hands and producing a Muhammad Ali shuffle. Ultimately, he was vindicated by the judges’ decision, but on another night, it could have gone to Puello.

No matter for promoter Eddie Hearn, who can look to push Smith into even bigger fights, with a dream outing at Sheffield Wednesday’s home ground Hillsborough on the horizon.

“Tonight he has cemented himself as the No. 1 pound-for-pound in Britain,” Hearn beamed.