MITCH Prince is targeting victory over champion Willie Limond in their Commonwealth light-welterweight title fight on Friday night as the catalyst to reviving a once-promising career which has all too often hit the canvas.

The 29-year-old Johannesburg-born fighter was dubbed the Prince of Passion in the early part of his career, but his on-off love affair with boxing has seen him embark on a long and winding road to his first major title challenge.

Despite being a pro for more than seven years, Prince, who enjoyed a Commonwealth Games pedigree as an amateur, has been inactive for almost four of these years after being plagued by periods of self-doubt over his ability to cut it at the top level.

But his bout with Glaswegian Limond at Bellahouston Sports Centre has brought an intensity and determination to provide a performance that will be the sum of his boxing parts.

He declared: "It is my own fault that it has taken me this long to get a major title shot.

"I have fallen in and out of love with boxing on more than one occasion and as a result I have quit the sport on more than one occasion.

"But I have been working out of Forgewood ABC in Motherwell and I am loving my boxing again. Under my coach Jim Love I have got my head down and worked hard, but the great thing for me is that I have only had 13 fights so I don't have the mileage on the clock.

"It has been a long road for me to get to this stage, but come Friday night it will be all worth it."

Prince has racked up only one stoppage victory from those 13 outings, and that came in his last fight when he outclassed Bulgarian journeyman Radislav Mitev.

An orthodox fighter who works in an aggressive, swarming style, the challenger is determined to use his five-year advantage to move the champion out of his comfort zone. Prince said: "I am ready for 12 rounds and I am expecting a hard fight. I know this will be tough from the opening round.

"I respect Willie Limond as he has been in with the best, but I hope he respects me because I am no Eddie Doyle [Limond's last opponent who was despatched inside a round].

"I would say for both of us it is a step up in terms of the quality of our opposition."

The big question, however, is whether Prince can finally deliver on his undoubted potential and bridge the quality gap that is obvious when both men's ring CVs are examined.

Limond may be 34, but the move up to 140lbs has given him extra power in the twilight of a career that should also have delivered more. He is an astute ring tactician, yet in Prince the champion will meet an opponent who is determined to examine every ounce of the Scot's famed resilience.

"Every fighter has a weakness. I have the edge in terms of being that bit younger than Willie and I have to make that work for me," said Prince.

"If I can keep the tempo and the intensity of the fight at a consistently high level I think Willie will struggle to live with that."

Tickets priced £40 and £50 ringside are still available from the St Andrew's club on 0141 810 5700.