Gary Buckland says his clash with Liverpool’s Stephen Smith is one he cannot afford to lose.

The Newport-trained fighter defends his British super-featherweight crown on the undercard of Nathan Cleverly’s world title clash with Sergey Kovalev at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff on August 17.

Victory would earn him the prestigious Lonsdale belt for keeps and push him towards a European title tilt, while a defeat would mean having to rebuild from scratch.

“I’ve seen what happened to Gary Sykes’ career when I beat him for the title,” said Buckland, who trains with Tony Borg at his St Joseph’s gym.

“He only needed to win to get the belt outright, but because I beat him, it put his career back more than two years.

“I don’t want that to happen to me.

“At the age of 27 I need to move forward with my career so I can’t afford to lose this fight.

“I’ve been told that I’m now the mandatory challenger for the European title, so I have to make sure I perform, get past Stephen Smith and move on to bigger things.”

Despite Cefn Fforest ace Cleverly being undoubtedly the star of the show, August 17 will feel like something of a homecoming for Buckland.

In a pro career spanning more than eight years this will be the first time he has boxed in his home city.

“It’s a big thing to be back in my own town,” he said.

“I’ve boxed a fair bit in Newport but not in Cardiff so that’s a bonus to get the opportunity to win the British title outright here.”