Frampton and Conlan Victorious at Venerated York Hall

The word “venerated” is bandied about too loosely, but the adjective certainly fits York Hall, the 91-year-old edifice in the East End of London that was built with the primary purpose of serving as a public bath for a neighborhood heavily populated by Eastern European immigrants and their children. You can’t take a bath there today, but you might see a crackling good boxing match in the main hall, an intimate 1,100-seat venue with a low-hanging balcony. Over the years, some outstanding prizefighters have made an appearance here – Lennox Lewis, Joe Calzaghe and, strange but true, Albuquerque’s Johnny Tapia, to name just three.

The facility was closed today to the general public, but there were boxing matches nonetheless in an area cordoned off as a TV studio. Belfast buddies Carl Frampton and Michael Conlan displayed their wares in a show televised in the United States on ESPN in a time slot likely reserved for an NFL exhibition game.

In the main go, Carl Frampton scored a 7th-round stoppage of late sub Darren Traynor,  a replacement for Latvia’s Vahram Vardanyan who had visa problems. It was a drab fight for the first four rounds, mostly posturing, but heated up in the fifth. Late in the sixth round, Frampton knocked Traynor down with a body punch. Traynor lay flat, face down, but rose in time to answer the bell for the next round.

In the seventh, after absorbing a wicked left to the body, Traynor gestured “no mas” and walked back to his corner. Frampton, a former two-division world title-holder and the 2016 TSS Fighter of the Year, advanced his record to 28-2 (16). Traynor falls to 16-4. He has yet to win a fight outside his native Scotland.

To the credit of Frampton’s U.S. promoter Top Rank, no attempt was made no build this fight into something it was not. A promotional blurb described the fight as a “pit stop” for the Irishman. Traynor, , nicknamed “Trayne-Wreck,” had scant chance of wrecking Frampton’s planned November date with WBO 130-pound champion Jamel Herring (assuming Herring gets by Jonathan Oquendo on Sept. 5).

Co-Feature

Two-time Olympian Michael Conlan, who made his pro debut in 2017 at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick’s Day, stayed undefeated and moved a step closer to a title shot with a 10^th-round TKO of veteran Sofiane Takoucht of France. Conlan (14-0, 8 KOs) worked well to the body with both hands, but several of those punches swayed low and when he was docked a second point with five-plus rounds to go, suddenly the fight was infused with drama as Conlan was at risk of being disqualified.

Reduced to a head-hunter, Conlan stayed the course and took Takoucht (35-5-1) out in the final round with a combination of punches climaxed by a sweeping right hand. “Irish Mick” now intends to drop back a weight class where the title-holders are Rey Vargas (WBC), Murodjon Akhmadaliev (WBA/IBF) and Angelo Leo (WBO).

Other Bouts

Super featherweight Archie Sharp overcame what ESPN commentator Tim Bradley called a “terrible performance” to nip former sparring partner Jeff Ofori. Because both fighters came in overweight and Sharp’s European title wasn’t at stake, referee Marcus McDonnell was judge and jury. He had it 96-95 for Sharp who improved to 19-0 but fought off his back foot the entire contest and won no new fans. Ofori declined to 10-3-1.

In a bout that wasn’t televised in the U.S., Troy Williamson (15-0-1) successfully defended his version of a European super welterweight title with a 10-round decision over Harry Scarff (8-2). Scarff thought he had done enough to win the fight, but the judges disagreed. The scores were 97-94, 96-94, and 96-95.

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