Promoter Ben Shalom believes the domestic showdown between the newest 140-pound champion Dalton Smith and his fighter, Adam Azim, could yet happen during 2026.

Smith (19-0, 14 KOs), five years Azim’s senior, has always been a few steps ahead of the man from Slough and moved clear of the conversation by claiming the WBC junior welterweight title via a thrilling stoppage victory over Subriel Matias earlier this month.

He moved to No. 1 in the The Ring rankings as a result and now has his sights on champion Teofimo Lopez, who defends the belt against Shakur Stevenson at 'The Ring 6' event on January 31 at Madison Square Garden, New York.

A few hours earlier, on the other side of the Atlantic, The Ring’s No. 8-ranked 140 pounder Azim (14-0, 11 KOs) will bid to keep himself in the hunt for a shot at a major title when he faces Gustavo Daniel Lemos at London’s Copper Box Arena, live on BBC Two. Victory in his biggest test to date will lift him to No. 2 in the IBF rankings, which could in turn lead to a world title shot at some point during the summer.

Unsurprisingly, Shalom is now talking up the chances of Smith and Azim finally facing off after years of being linked with each other.

“Winning the world title was incredible from Dalton Smith,” he said. “It was amazing to see … what he did and what Grant [Smith] has done with Dalton is phenomenal.

“I know it's lit a fire inside of Adam which is amazing to see. He's 23 years old, he's had great promotion so far. He's the poster boy we believe and he will become a household name on the BBC.

"He believes he's a better fighter than Dalton Smith and we believe Adam Azim’s a better fighter but we believe that they're both good enough to win world titles. I don't want to marinate it and this and that. We don't want another Kell Brook, Amir Khan situation but we do want the fight to be massive and I think it's getting very close to being absolutely enormous.”

Incidentally, it was Shalom who finally made the fight between Khan and Brook in February 2022, many years after a clash between Britain’s two leading welterweights of the generation had first been mentioned. However, it was clear that the pair, both 35 at the time, were past their peak when they met.

Shalom has no intention of allowing the same thing to happen to Smith and Azim and is willing to allow his boxer to fight on a rival broadcaster like DAZN, away from his current deal with the BBC.

He said: “In regards to January 31, to get a fight like this, a world-level fight, on BBC Two, we've done extremely well so we're getting big fights on the broadcaster.

“Is it going to be Adam Azim against Dalton Smith on the BBC? No, because the guys are going to want to earn too much money. I think that fight will end up on DAZN or on a pay-per-view platform. I'm under no illusion that will be a box office fight.”

However, it is highly unlikely that Smith would face Azim until the 23-year-old has a world championship belt to bring to the table. The trouble is that there appears to be a logjam at the top of the IBF rankings, with champion Richardson Hitchins seemingly fully booked for 2026 already.

Firstly, he looks set to defend his title against Oscar Duarte but only after the IBF allowed him a small window for a voluntary defence. After that, they are likely to order the winner to face No. 1-ranked contender Lindolfo Delgado in the very next fight. So where does that leave Azim?

Shalom said: “Well he believes he’s going to unify the division and this fight is for the No. 2 spot against Lemos. When I spoke to the IBF and lobbied for this fight, they said ‘look for us, Lemos possibly beat Richardson Hitchins’. He's a serious fighter at this weight.

“Who knows what happens with Richardson Hitchins, whether he moves up. I think there's a lot of talk about him going up in weight. We will see but we believe Adam Azim is the best out of him, Delgado and Hitchins.

"He will get his chance, hopefully he’ll be next and hopefully Dalton Smith happens towards the back end of the year. I believe this is the year for it to happen. I really do.”