Chris Eubank announced his retirement from the ring in October 1995. He made a quick comeback in 1996, however, defeating Luis Dionisio Barrera and Camilo Alarcon. After Steve Collins withdrew from his WBO super-middleweight title defence against Joe Calzaghe and unexpectedly retired in October 1997, Calzaghe was matched against Eubank for the vacant title with eleven days notice. Eubank had been scheduled to box at light-heavyweight on the undercard. Eubank was knocked down twice and lost on points to Calzaghe, but saw his popularity rise as a result of managing to finish the fight against his more fancied opponent. Eubank then added
Chris Eubank Jr. appear on BoxNation, with his first fight being at the York Hall in London on 22 February. Eubank stopped Alistair Warren (0-4-2), after Warren retired on his stool before round 4. Eubank next fought at the Copper Box Arena in London on 12 April against Hungarian boxer Sandor Micsko. Eubank landed a big uppercut in round 2, which dropped Micsko. The referee waved the fight off. In the post-fight, Eubank said, "I'm the next generation. I worked on the uppercut in the gym and I connected beautifully tonight. When I connect with these guys I'm taking them out, no one