Chris Eubank Jr. by Eubank Jr, however O'Sullivan showed great resilience to Eubank's continuous hard shots, particularly uppercuts. At the end of the 7th round, O'Sullivan's corner retired their fighter, who had sustained a perforated eardrum. Immediately after Eubank defeated O'Sullivan, Hennessey Sports announced that they had won the purse bids and the rights to stage Eubank vs. Nick Blackwell for Blackwell's British middleweight title. In February 2016, Hennessy Sports announced the fight between Eubank and Blackwell (19-3-1, 8 KOs) would take place on 26 March at the Wembley’s SSE Arena in London. The fight was shown live on Channel 5. Eubank dominated
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