Carl Frampton Comes Alive…..Eventually Winning in Seven!

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By Marc “Kid Huevos” Livitz

A heat advisory swept over much of Texas on Saturday afternoon and in the Austin area in particular, we were advised to avoid staying outdoors for prolonged periods of time due to heat indices as high as 112 degrees. I love to run and I love to challenge myself but a the same time, I’m not stupid, so a leisurely jog on the treadmill replaced my usual 10K trot out in the open. I’d also get to take in some boxing. The time difference between the central United States and the United Kingdom is six hours, so some of us may have forgotten to catch ESPN’s airing of live boxing from London. The telecast’s two main attractions, both from Northern Ireland would be fighting in separate events, with former two-division world champion Carl “The Jackal” Frampton rounding out the night. In what was his first outing as a lightweight, Frampton, 28-2, 16 KO’s, squared off against Scotsman Darren Traynor, who himself had taken his assignment ten days earlier as a fill-in opponent.

A few days ago, Frampton took part in a Zoom media conference call to discuss the upcoming contest and one of the things he mentioned was how his loss to IBF featherweight world champion Josh Warrington last Winter caused him to run thoughts of retirement through his mind. He said that it wasn’t something he discussed with too many people. There was no way at 31, he contended, that he was either “over the hill” or “on the slide”, as he put it. He also commented how his next contest, which was a ten-round target practice session win over Tyler McCreary was accomplished with two broken hands. Carl was adamant that at this point in his career and now at the age of 33, he didn’t need any more unnecessary rounds to determine where he was, career-wise. It wasn’t that long ago when Frampton was at times mentioned among the names of the best fighters on the planet.

While certainly not over any particular hill or sliding down one to any noticeable degree, he did let Darren Traynor, 16-4, 7 KO’s, hang around for longer than many of us had expected. To be fair and at all times acknowledge that the sport of boxing is perhaps the most physically demanding endeavor an athlete can partake, we can also admit that either “The Jackal” was doing his best imitation of Edward Fox (“Day of the Jackal”, 1973 film) or he was already looking too far into the future in terms of a showdown against WBO super featherweight world champion Jamel Herring. Their bout is tentatively slated for November. In any case, we saw an Irishman and a Scotsman trade shots, albeit unevenly for six full rounds in a country which has historically screwed over their respective homelands for longer than history can remember, and it went on for longer than we had anticipated.

Through six, Carl Frampton was ahead on all of the ringside judges’ scorecards. At the tail end of the sixth, he scored the bout’s first and only knockdown, thanks to a left hook to the body. Alas, we didn’t get to see the replay of the shot which sent Traynor to the canvas because ESPN had to pay its bills. We saw the Scot down on all fours atop the canvas use nine seconds of the ten count before he made it back to his feet. What we didn’t get was a replay because we had to watch a commercial for Jimmy John’s sandwiches instead. In the end, it didn’t matter because one minute into the seventh, Frampton landed another body shot, after which Traynor waved his right hand at referee Michael Alexander and well, quit.

ESPN’s ringside commentary team, of course had to in part, beckon the famous words of the legendary Roberto Duran, “no mas”. Perhaps it was a “no mas” moment, although Duran has always insisted that he uttered different words in the ring in 1980. It doesn’t matter, as hearing Traynor exclaim, “No quiero a continuar con este Irlandes” wouldn’t have gone over well. As far as a showdown with champion Jamel Herring in November is concerned, Frampton will have to get his act together and there’s no reason to believe that he won’t.

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