Chris Eubank Jr. to stop the fight. Following the bout, Eubank was stripped of the interim WBA middleweight title due to his inactivity since winning it. Eubank then faced Gary "Spike" O'Sullivan in an eliminator to challenge the "de jure" WBA middleweight champion, Daniel Jacobs. Talks resurfaced about a potential fight with Irish boxer Gary O'Sullivan to take on 12 December 2015 at the O2 Arena in London on the undercard of Joshua-Whyte. The fight was well anticipated, as the pair had a history of feuds in the past, with O'Sullivan targeting Eubank on social media. The fight throughout had the pace set
World Boxing Organization champions Michael Moorer, Riddick Bowe, and Henry Akinwande relinquishing the title to pursue other options. Boxing publication "The Ring" also did not recognize the WBO, despite having recognized the IBF after its inception in 1983, five years prior to the WBO. In the lighter weight divisions, however, long-reigning champions during the 1990s such as Chris Eubank, Dariusz Michalczewski, Johnny Tapia, and Naseem Hamed gave the WBO title increasingly more prestige. The WBO was also made popular by boxers such as Marco Antonio Barrera, Oscar De La Hoya, Nigel Benn, Ronald "Winky" Wright, Joe Calzaghe, and Wladimir Klitschko, all of whom