Carl Frampton earns victory over Darren Traynor with seventh-round stoppage to set up Jamel Herring clash

Frampton returned to the ring after an eight month hiatus from action, and won comfortably at York Hall

Carl Frampton (28-2 16KOS) was triumphant via a seventh round stoppage against Darren Traynor (116-4 7KOS) on Saturday night, with the Northern Irishman now eyeing a title fight against Jamel Herring in November, after removing any ring rust in a cruising performance.

'The Jackal' landed a huge body shot in the seventh after increasing the pressure on the Scot, having used the previous rounds to find some rhythm, and sealed the job in the scheduled 10-round lightweight bout.

Frampton held a great deal of uncertainty about his opponent in the build up to the fight, and Traynor stepped in with a week's notice and despite Frampton's easing in to the fight early on, controlling the tempo and being largely up on the scorecards, the finishing blow was eventually landed in the latter stages as the 33-year-old inflicted nasty shots on Traynor, and we began to see the return of the speed and power of the two-weight world champion once again.

The history-nearing lightweight was happy with the win, but acknowledged his need for improvement in any potential bout with Jamel Herring to claim that ominous third weight world title.

He said: "I’m happy to get the win, obviously. Far from my best, but I suppose people talk about rounds. I don’t think it’s going to harm me doing the rounds. If I had the chance to take him out in the first round, I would’ve done that. It was a better opponent for Herring than the original opponent because I think he was about my height, maybe even a little bit shorter. Darren isn’t a southpaw, but the dimensions are similar. I know I need to be a lot better for Herring. It’s good to get the rounds done. My hands are fine. No issues there. Onward and upward."

Undefeated Irishman Michael Conlan (14-0, 8 KOs) also made a succesful return to the ring, sealing victory against Sofiane Takoucht (35-5-1, 13 KOs) with a late knockout in the final round of the 10 round featherweight contest, before his proposed move to junior featherweight.

He landed a damaging overarm left early in the 10th, shocking his opponent and prompting a barrage of shots that resulted in the late stoppage by referee Steve gray, and gave Conlan his 14th cosecutive professional victory, with his sights now set on the winner of the upcoming title bout between champion Angelo Leo and No. 1 contender Stephen Fulton.

Earlier in the undercard, World-rated junior lightweight Archie Sharp (19-0, 9 KOs) scraped past former sparring partner Jeff Ofori (10-3-1, 3 KOs) in a 10-round lightweight bout. Referee Marcus McDonnell, the lone judge, scored the fight 96-95.

 Troy Williamson (15-0-1, 11 KOs) bested Harry Scarff (8-2, 1KO) by 10-round unanimous decision to retain his IBF European junior middleweight title. Williamson prevailed by razor-thin margins of 97-94, 96-94 and 96-95, as he saw his six-bout knockout streak come to an end.

Young sensation Dennis McCann (7-0 5KOS) earned an explosive second round stoppage win over Brett Fidoe, who had only ever been stopped once previously.

He landed a superb body shot that left his opponent crumpled on the canvas and earned him yet another victory, with big things expected of the 19-year-old in the future.

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