ROBBIE Turley is justifiably proud of taking reigning world champion Carl Frampton the distance back in 2011 – but he doesn’t want his career to be remembered for that one heroic defeat alone.

And a win for Turley in his British super-bantamweight title eliminator against Tommy Ward tonight will see him move a step closer to making sure that doesn’t happen.

Cefn Fforest’s Turley, 29, goes into the lion’s den when he clashes with Ward, who is set to have a big home crowd behind him at Rainton Meadows Arena near Sunderland.

However, Turley, trained by Tony Borg at St Joseph’s Boxing Club in Newport, is looking forward to silencing Ward’s supporters and ending his rival’s unblemished record.

Sparring with the likes of Lee Selby, Gary Buckland and Lee Haskins stands Turley in good stead for the fight, while the former Celtic champion is in excellent shape as he heads north.

Turley believes tonight’s brawl is bigger than that with Frampton – the Irishman claimed a unanimous decision in Cardiff nearly five years ago – and now he really wants to create his own legacy in the sport.

“Carl Frampton is a superstar now, he’s special, but this is a bigger fight than the one I had for the Celtic,” said Turley.

“I gave him a great fight but I don’t want that to be what people remember me for.

“I want to go on and do my own great things, not be the guy who gave Frampton a good fight.”

And his preparation couldn’t have gone much better.

“Training has been great and sparring has been great,” he added. “I’ve been sparring with world champions like Lee Selby, Lee Haskins, Andrew Selby, who is going to be a world champion, Gary Buckland, and a couple of others.

“It’s always hard training for a fight, you have niggles and problems, but I’ve managed not to have days off and pull through the hard times.

“After a year without any big fights you go stale, so hopefully this will get me back on my feet.

“I’ve got a good fight now and if I win I’ll be back up there.

“It is a big chance for me, and I hope it’s not my last chance.”

Should Turley win tonight he would then be in line to fight current British champion Jazza Dickens, who goes up against Cuba’s Guillermo Rigondeaux in Liverpool next Saturday.

“I can’t see Jazza winning because the other boy is special,” said Turley.

“If Jazza does lose it would probably upset him and his confidence might be blown a bit when he comes to defend his title.

“If I win this they could even chuck Scott Quigg in and use someone like me as a stepping stone if I’ve got a British title, but I wouldn’t mind that at all.”

Elsewhere tonight, Morgan Jones and Kyle Jones take on Charlie Brown and Fonz Alexander respectively in Merthyr Tydfil.