The hard-as-nails Scot has an impressive unbeaten record of 11 wins with five knockouts and is aiming to take the Lonsdale belt back to Aberdeen with him. As an amateur, Traynor became the first British boxer to win the famous Golden Gloves of America tournament and is aiming to live up to his early promise.
He said: “I’m coming into my prime and I need to step up. This is the biggest fight of my career and it will definitely be the toughest. People have been talking for years about my potential and the time has come for me to realise it.”
“Ryan is a tough fighter but I’m confident in myself and my abilities. Sure he’s awkward and puts on a lot of pressure, but I’ve seen plenty of weaknesses and I know that I’ve got the tools to beat him. I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain, he has everything to lose. On the 22nd I’ll be coming down to London and making that belt my own.”
The 29 year-old admits he had one foot in the gutter before being saved by boxing. Drinking heavily by the age of 12 and nearly losing an arm in a horrific stabbing at 14, Traynor turned his life around when he discovered boxing and won’t let anything or anyone get in the way of his dream of winning a British title.
“I’ve overcome much bigger challenges in my life than Ryan Walsh. I still have the scar from the stabbing, in a way it’s a reminder of the path that I could have taken. I’m a different person now and I’ve worked hard to get where I am today. There won’t be any more slip ups or false starts from me. Come fight night it’ll be my name on everybody’s lips and not Ryan’s.”
He added: “I’m on course to achieve my destiny and that’s to win the British title. Once I make the belt mine on the 22nd I’ll be moving on to bigger and better things. Ryan and his brother Liam might have made history but he’ll be losing the belt when I take it from him, he’ll be travelling back to Cromer emptied handed.”
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