The men will square off March 23, live worldwide on DAZN, with Zepeda coming off a loss to Richardson Hitchins last September.

“It was a tough loss against Hitchins because I wanted to get back into the top ten," Zepeda said.

"He is a talented fighter. I do believe he is going to be a champion."

The defeat to Hitchins hasn't deterred Zepeda, who faces the undefeated Smith in both fighters' first bout of 2024.

"I could have taken an easy fight but that’s not going to get me anywhere," Zepeda said. "I want a hard fight so I can get back straight away into the top ten contenders in the 140lbs division."

Zepeda has come as close to a world title without actually winning one as a fighter can get on three agonising occasions — he lost to Terry Flanagan in a WBO lightweight title fight in 2015 and was defeated in 2019 and 2022 when challenging for the WBC light welterweight title. The 34-year-old figures he has one more chance at putting himself back in the title picture, and if he falls on Saturday he will likely call time on his career.

“If I don’t win this fight most likely I’m probably going to retire," he said. "So, I’m training my hardest to make sure I don’t retire.

"If I don’t win this fight, then that means there’s no big fights for me afterwards. I’m planning on only being in big fights; so, I have to win this fight."

DAZN Bet: Jose Zepeda to beat Dalton Smith by KO/TKO or DQ 6/1, click here for more information.