Ray Close Eammon Loughran and Sam Storey. In his seventh bout he beat Rocky McGran to win the vacant Irish Super Middleweight title. He successfully defended the title against Terry Magee, the older brother of Eamonn and Noel, in Dublin in 1991. In 1993, he defeated Vincenzo Nardiello to win the EBU European Super Middleweight title in Italy. Later the same year Close faced Chris Eubank for the WBO Super Middleweight title. In what would be the first of his two fights against Eubank, the match was declared a draw. After an October win against Ray Domenge, Close again faced Eubank in
Chris Eubank Jr. a month, but we can’t push it back by three or four months. We have a substitute system. We said that from day one, and that’s the situation. We want Groves in the final, but if that’s not possible and he doesn't declare himself fit in the next 10 days, we have to find a solution." On 17 September, Sauerland announced that Eubank would fight Irish boxer JJ McDonagh (16-4, 8 KOs) George Groves vs Callum Smith undercard on 28 September at The Indoor Sports Hall at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Eubank won the fight via