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Darren Traynor Steps In To Face
Carl Frampton On ESPN Aug. 15
Carl "The Jackal" Frampton will fight Scottish veteran
Darren "Trayn-Wreck" Traynor in a 10-round lightweight bout
this Saturday, August 15. Frampton was supposed to face
Vahram Vardanyan, but visa issues forced Vardanyan to pull
out of the fight last week.
In the 10-round co-main event, featherweight contender
Michael "Mick" Conlan (13-0, 7 KO) will face former world
title challenger Sofiane Takoucht (35-4-1, 13 KOs).
The Frampton-Traynor and Conlan-Takoucht bouts will be
televised live in the United States on ESPN and ESPN
Deportes beginning at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT. Undercard bouts,
including the return of Top Rank and MTK Global welterweight
prospect Paddy "Real Deal" Donovan (3-0, 2 KOs), will stream
live on ESPN+ starting at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT.
"The show must go on, and Carl needed a fight after a pretty
long layoff," said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. "His goal is
to become Ireland's first three-weight world champion, and
after he's victorious on Saturday, we will do everything we
can to give him that opportunity."
Said Frampton, "I'm delighted to get an opponent over the
line. I have to credit MTK Global for seeing there could
have been issues with the original opponent getting into the
country, and they have been paying Darren Traynor for a
number of weeks to train.
"He'll be in decent shape and will be up for it as well.
There is no pressure on him, but it is up to me to look
good. I want to be taking this guy out and then moving on to
think about Jamel Herring.
"I can't be complacent in the slightest. I know I'm the big
favorite in the fight, but I want to win and want to look
good, and I want to win by knockout.
"I feel like he's a better opponent as he's fought at a
higher level than Vardanyan, and he's coming in at
lightweight. I haven't made my debut at junior lightweight
yet and I'm already jumping in at lightweight, so that's
obviously a little bit in his favor, but I'm looking forward
to not having to struggle at all in fight week and then
putting on an explosive show."
"Carl is gunning for a third world title at a third
different weight and cannot afford any mishaps on Saturday
night," said Frank Warren, who co-promotes Frampton. "Darren
Traynor is ready to step in and fully prepared to give Carl
the competitive fight he needs before heading into a WBO
world championship battle against Jamel Herring, hopefully,
later this year."
“Unfortunately, Vahram had visa issues, which was something
that we had envisioned as a possible scenario. We reached
out to Darren Traynor and his team to be ready in case this
situation had come out this way," said MTK Global Vice
President Jamie Conlan.
Traynor (16-3, 7 KOs), from Aberdeen, Scotland, is a
nine-year pro and former two-weight Scottish champion who
once challenged for the British super featherweight title.
He had been training as a potential fill-in opponent, so
when the call came to fight a Frampton, he did not hesitate.
He's split his last four bouts, most recently winning a
decision over veteran Des Newton at lightweight.
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