Carl Frampton unloaded a vicious left hook to the body and Darren Traynor immediately winced in pain and indicated that he had enough.
The referee stepped in between the two men and Frampton was awarded the seventh-round TKO at York Hall in London on Saturday. Just like that, Frampton inches closer to a title shot against WBO junior lightweight champion Jamel Herring, as long as Herring is successful against Jonathan Oquendo on Sept. 5 first.
Leading up to the Frampton-Traynor bout, Top Rank's Bob Arum already penciled in a potential timetable for Herring vs. Frampton.
“If Jamel is successful (Sept. 5 against Oquendo), and if Carl is successful on Saturday, I have a date picked out in November where they’ll fight for the title," Arum vowed. "That’s done. Everyone is on board. One thing I can’t control is the virus, but we’re going to do that fight in November. It may very well be another ‘bubble’ fight."
Frampton (28-2, 16 KOs) softened Traynor up for the seventh-round TKO by dropping him with a shot in the sixth. The left hook minutes later secured the win.
Mick Conlan defeats Sofiane Takoucht via 10th-round TKO
The same card had Conlan delivering one-way traffic until getting his hand raised over Takoucht by 10th-round TKO. With the victory, Conlan (14-0, 8 KOs) strengthens his case for a featherweight world title shot.