The 32-year-old Dominican will be bidding to regain the green and gold belt he lost to Subriel Matias in July of last year. The fight will be shown exclusively on DAZN.

Six months after losing his 140-pound title to Matias by close majority decision, Puello watched Smith (19-0, 14 KOs) beat the aggressive Puerto Rican at his own game. In January, Smith stopped Matias in the fifth round of a shoot-out.

Puello (25-1, 11 KOs) was impressed and more than a little taken aback by Smith’s performance, but the man ranked at No. 4 by The Ring is still confident of winning back his title and becoming a three-time world champion.

“I think, like everybody, I was very surprised that Dalton Smith could go and knock out Subriel Matias," Puello said at Wednesday’s launch press conference. “I don't want to take anything away from Dalton Smith as a fighter, but you know, I think it was a big surprise that he was able to knock Subriel out.

“There's very few things I can say about weaknesses. I don't see many weaknesses in him. But what I will say, it will be hugely satisfying to come here to his home and rip the belt away from him. It will be really satisfying for me and a humiliation for him.”

The tall, rangy Puello promises to present Smith with an entirely different set of problems to the relentless, hard hitting Matias. But those expecting the southpaw to live up to his nickname of ‘The Wasp’ and flit around the ring in Sheffield hoping to pick his way to a decision may be in for a surprise.

Puello acknowledges that unseating Smith – who is ranked at No. 1 by The Ring – won’t be easy, but he doesn’t think he will have any problem finding the target.

“I'm not going to go too much into the fight plan because that's obviously a secret, but, with the size of Dalton Smith's head, I don't think I'll be able to miss come fight night,” he said.