Carl Frampton returned the ring with a stoppage victory over Darren Traynor in East London tonight.
A series of stinging body shots had Traynor throw in the towel himself one minute into the seventh round of the contest.
Frampton looked a bit rusty early on and Traynor, the naturally bigger man, proved an elusive target for the Belfast man.
But working the jab more, Frampton enjoyed more success and it was a body shot that had Traynor down on the canvas in the sixth round before the Scot just beat the count.
The writing was on the wall for Traynor though and former two-weight world champion Frampton went to the body again in the seventh round to end the contest.
Frampton, 33, is being lined up to fight Jamel Herring for the WBO super-featherweight world title this November and this was a good tune-up to shake the cobwebs off.
He said after the fight: “I was happy to get the win. I was far from my best. People talk about doing the rounds, I don’t think it will harm me. He is a tough kid. I had to make sure complacency didn’t creep in tonight.
"It was a potential banana skin. They had a decent game plan, they weren’t rushing things. I hurt him a few times with the jab and then the body shots worked well.
"It was a better opponent for Herring than the original opponent. The dimensions are similar. But I know I need to be a lot better for Jamel Herring.
"Main thing is my hands are fine and I feel good. I think the Herring fight will happen. We have been talking about it for a long time, let’s hope it will happen. Bob Arum, MTK and Frank Warren have been talking about it.
"It was a strange experience tonight, a bit surreal. But once another guy throws punches at your head you soon switch on.”
