The wave of travelling fans made their presence well known as they piled into McMahon’s Irish pub in Brooklyn, likely causing the neighbours to wonder what on earth was going on.
Well, the new world champion was in town.
Dalton Smith was still in dreamland.
In the hours following his sensational, instantly iconic knockout of Subriel Matias in Brooklyn on Jan. 10, Smith’s dad and trainer Grant could be heard reminding anyone who would listen: “My son’s a world champion!”
Smith jumped behind the bar, poured a pint of Guinness, savoured it despite not being a big drinker, and those in attendance toasted the newest champion of the world.
Earlier in the day, Smith’s face was plastered on a billboard in Times Square and the father-son duo were visibly emotional as Eddie Hearn presented them with the new belt in the heart of New York City.
What a whirlwind 24 hours.
The scene of Grant falling to the floor with his son wrapped in his arms, gripped by the emotion and the magnitude of their achievement, was enough to almost make you feel warm about this often cold, dark sport.
“It’s massive what we’ve achieved and he [Grant] deserves every bit of credit for it,” Smith tells ESPN.
That’s what boxing does best.
Just when you feel like you’ve had enough, a Dalton Smith comes along, wins a world title, and reminds you what it’s all about.
It wasn’t just what he did: The boy from Sheffield in the north of England climbing the often treacherous, toxic and unforgiving ladder of boxing alongside his father to the very top, travelling away from home to beat a guy who in November failed a drug test but was allowed to fight anyway.
That alone itself would be pretty special.
But it’s the way he did it.
Toe-to-toe with a dangerous puncher, beating Matias at his own game, slugging it out in the pocket and finishing it in Round 5.
“I felt him weakening a little bit and I just persevered with it. Whether it was the right tactic or not, I felt like I was comfortable in there and I got the job done in style so there’s no complaints,” Smith said.
“As crazy as it sounds, as much as I was in there having a war and a tear up, I was enjoying it. I thought: ‘I’m in a real fight here’ and I was loving every moment of it.
“I think that night I’d have gone through hell to get that win because it meant so much for me. As much as it was a hard fight and it was entertaining, I was comfortable in there.”
He still has the stitches above his eye, although the swelling has soothed slightly.
It’s all still sinking in.
Questions about what next, who next and when inevitably come thick and fast for the new champ. Dreams of unification, maybe Teofimo Lopez or Shakur Stevenson, may have even popped into his head.
But fans should savour this moment as much as Smith.
The new pride of Britain, who crossed the pond to pull off one of the all-time great smash-and-grabs and proved the good guys do on occasion — even in boxing — finish first.
