Unexpected, gritty, heroic, uplifting.

What unbeaten Brit Dalton Smith achieved Saturday night while stopping two-time junior welterweight titleholder Subriel Matias and capturing the WBC belt fit all of the above descriptions, and now comes the discussion of where he goes from here.

On Monday’s episode of ProBox TV’s “BoxingScene Today,” analyst and former 140lbs titleholder Chris Algieri said Smith’s “very smart game plan” of immediately taking the fight to the slow-starting but “ruthless” Matias made all the difference in clinching the fifth-round TKO.

“The question was [Smith] going to step up? He certainly did,” Algieri said. “They went right at him … and that piston-like jab.”

Fellow analyst Paulie Malignaggi added, “To beat down a guy known for coming forward, to fight this kind of fight and come out with success … great kid, great strategy.”

Malignaggi thought referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped the fight too soon with 36 seconds remaining in the fifth after Smith delivered so many unanswered power punches.

“The ref pulled the plug on this way too soon,” Malignaggi said. “Was Smith punching himself out? Could he hold this kind of pace? Beautiful [final] shot, but that was too soon.

“This [Matias] is a world champion. Maybe Smith still takes him out, but there’s [36] seconds left in the round. Either Smith ends it with a conclusive finish or Matias recovers between rounds.”

Algieri disagreed, saying Matias was “not responding well to those punches,” and his head got rocked back “like a Pez dispenser in the first.

“The reactions [throughout] definitely didn’t look good.”

The WBC said at its convention in Bangkok, Thailand, last month that it wanted Saturday’s winner to next fight former titleholder Alberto Puello, who lost narrowly to Matias last year.

Smith may also turn to interim WBC titlist Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz.

“Dalton beats Cruz every round,” Algieri said.

As for how he compares with fellow junior welterweight titleholders Teofimo Lopez (WBO and lineal), Richardson Hitchins (IBF) and Gary Antuanne Russell (WBA), Algieri said Smith is fourth, but “showed his mettle,” and may be able to land a unification with Hitchins should he retain versus his next foe, with potential names included Oscar Duarte and Jamaine Ortiz.

Both Hitchins and Smith fight for promoter Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing banner.

“There’s a lot of upside to Dalton Smith and he’s loved in England, but I don’t think he’s long for 140,” Malignaggi said.

Algieri projected that Smith would have difficulty maintaining a toe-to-toe mentality at welterweight.

“He’s a world champion. Let’s see where he’s going to go,” Malignaggi said. “He’s a warrior. He brings it.”