Dalton Smith is determined to make a statement when he returns from a long, frustrating spell on the sidelines against France’s Walid Ouizza this weekend.

Smith, 16-0 (12 KOs), and Ouizza, 19-2 (8 KOs), will meet for the vacant European junior welterweight title. Smith’s WBC Silver belt will also be on the line.

The fight takes place at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena and the Matchroom event will be screened worldwide by DAZN.

A nagging neck-shoulder injury has kept the talented Smith out of the ring since he gatecrashed world level with an excellent fifth round bodyshop stoppage of the dangerous Jose Zepeda in his home city of Sheffield last March.

In Smith’s absence, his British rivals in the 140lb division have all made impressive moves.

Jack Catterall has avenged a controversial defeat to Josh Taylor, beaten two-time champion, Regis Prograis and secured an interim WBO title fight with Arnold Barboza Jr. Adam Azim scored an impressively retired Ohara Davies and fights the well regarded veteran, Sergey Lipinets, next week.

On the domestic scene, the heavy handed and undefeated Jack Rafferty is now the British and Commonwealth champion whist Irish knockout artist Pierce O’Leary continues to rack up wins.

Smith’s talent is such that there is no chance of him being forgotten or leapfrogged but given the speed the sport is currently moving at, ten months is an eternity for a rising fighter like him to be forced into a watching brief.

He knows how important it is that he returns with a bang against Ouizza this weekend.

“Every time I go in, I need to go in there and look good. My last couple of fights - I’d say quite a lot of my fights - I’ve been in there and my levels have just stepped up every time. I believe I know what level I'm at so I'm going in there to look good. I want to put on a performance,” he said at Thursday’s press conference.

“Say we fight on Saturday night. We’re forgot about the week after. There’s been another show. So we need to put performances on [so fans are] like, ‘That kid's good.’ So if you're underperforming, you forgot about the week after.

“That's why I need to put a big performance in. So people remember and be like, ‘This kid's good.’”

Ouizza is undefeated in over six years and collected minor titles in each of his last three appearances. He deserves an opportunity but is taking a massive step up on Saturday. Winning the European title would be a major achievement for the 33 year-old but beating Smith would send shockwaves through the sport and instantly elevate him to an entirely new level.

“It's my moment. This is what I've come here for. I'm on my path and this is now for me,” he said.

“Definitely, wins on the way to a big match like this reinforce your belief that you're heading for a further victory but, of course, every match stands and falls on its own merits and I treat every fight on its own merits, and each one's different.

“I'm here on merit, and yeah, it's a big honour to be featuring in a fight like this against a great fighter like Dalton. Hats off. But I'm here to create that visibility and hopefully head back to France with a win.”

Predictably, Ouizza chose not to reveal his pre-fight plan but seems to be aware that victory won’t come easy on Saturday night and that he will need to show more than one aspect to his game if he is to win.

“We're going to find out on Saturday, but it's a question of beating the man on the day. I'll adapt my style. I'll adapt the fight plan in the ring.”

Smith has been linked to a European title fight for some time. It looked like the opportunity had passed him by when injury forced him to withdraw from two proposed dates for a vacant title fight with Spain’s Jon Fernandes late last year but he leapt at the chance to win the prestigious belt when the chance to fight Ouizza surprisingly presented itself.

Smith has made no secret of his desire to progress towards a world title by collecting all of the major domestic and regional titles and having already won the English, British, Commonwealth belts, the European title is a the next logical move.

He saw no reason to skip a step and head on towards a world title.

“Because I'm still young,” he said.

“I know I'm in this game for the long run, until I'm 34, 35. I'm 27 at the minute and the position I'm in, I want to collect every belt. I want to look back at the end of my career and be like, ‘I've done that.’

“Picking up all of these belts, that's what I'm in it for. I want to financially put myself in a good position and I want to finish my career and be like, ‘I gave it 100%.’

“I've achieved everything I've set out to do. Saturday night's a part of that and that's picking up a European title.”

Experience has taught Smith not to put pressure on himself by hunting for a quick finish but he is expecting to get past Ouizaa in style on Saturday.

“I believe in great fashion. That could be the first round, could be the 12th,” he said.

“But look, I've gone in to fights before thinking, “I'm going to blast this kid out.” I've learned go in there, you've got 12 rounds. Take one round at a time and if anything happens in between that, it’s a bonus”