Carl Frampton vs Darren Traynor Odds & Picks

• Carl Frampton vs Darren Traynor goes Saturday, August 15th, at 2:00 PM ET
• Will Frampton add another one to the highlight reel or will Traynor capitalize as a late replacement?
• Check out the main-card odds and predictions from Dylan Bowker, below
  

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Carl Frampton and Darren Traynor sling leather at the BT Sport Studio in Stratford, London, this Saturday (Aug. 15th, 2:00 PM ET). The ten-round lightweight contest will broadcast on both BT Sport in the UK and ESPN+ in North America.

Vahram Vardanyan was initially slated to fight Frampton this weekend, but had to pull out due to visa issues. The game Traynor stepped up without reservations. Frampton has said that, if he loses to Traynor this weekend, he’ll likely hang up the gloves.

Frampton vs Traynor Main Card Odds

Odds as of August 12.

Carl Frampton’s Career Crossroads

Frampton has had successes in multiple divisions with victories at 122 pounds, 126 pounds (capturing WBA gold), and presently at 130 pounds. He isn’t sweating the short-notice opponent change. He jokes that, if he didn’t have bad luck, he’d have no luck at all. After all, this is a man who has entered fights with a broken hand and quickly would break the good hand in said fight while maintaining composure en route to a victory. The mettle and unassailably solid focus are key parts of Frampton’s overall skillset as a competitor.

Last shake out 🥊👊 pic.twitter.com/YaMGCbPyoM

— Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) August 11, 2020

Frampton was supposed to compete with WBO super featherweight champion Jamel Herring in Belfast. While plans for that June event fell through, prevailing wisdom says that a Frampton win here leads to a rebooking with Herring in either late 2020 or early 2021.

Frampton is not overlooking Traynor and glancing ahead to the Herring blockbuster bout though. He actually sees this replacement as being superior to his initial August opponent and realizes there is a formidable enough task ahead of him despite being a sizeable favorite.

Darren Traynor’s Chances as an Underdog

Traynor has close to a decade of experience as a professional pugilist. He is a former two-weight Scottish champion and vied for British super-featherweight gold at one point too. He was already putting in work as a potential fill-in opponent for this event and the promotion has had him training for the past few weeks. If Traynor puts on a career-defining performance this weekend, he could really play spoiler for a lot of big blockbuster bouts.

I can think of a decent all MTK fight for JoJo at some point 👀 Welcome to the team champ https://t.co/ZW5l9bbEso

— Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) August 12, 2020

Traynor will likely look to impose his size advantage on Frampton since he has the naturally larger frame. I just don’t know if he’ll be able to close the skill gap between the two in any meaningful way on fight night. Traynor has faltered each time that he has gone up to that proverbial next level and also doesn’t have a proven track record with fights he has taken on short notice either.

Frampton vs Traynor Tale of the Tape

I think Frampton puts on a boxing masterclass en route to a lopsided unanimous decision victory. Traynor will prove to be durable but will be noticeably outclassed.

Pick: Carl Frampton (-10000)

Other Main Card Picks for Frampton vs Traynor

1. Archie Sharp vs Jeff Ofori: The WBO European super-featherweight belt is on the line here. Ofori has a 2-2-1 record across his last five outings while Sharp is an unbeaten pro. I see Archie Sharp improving to 19-0 and winning via points. Pick: Archie Sharp (-2000)