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. Abraham (46-5, 30 KOs) in London. It is believed that Eubank was offered in the region of £3 million. The two potential dates discussed were 15 and 22 July. At the time the fight was being discussed, Abraham was the mandatory challenger to the WBO title, held by Gilberto Ramirez, who defeated Abraham in April 2015. It would be regarded as Eubanks' biggest fight since his loss to Saunders in 2014. On 5 June, it was confirmed that the fight would take place at the Wembley Arena on 15 July and televised on ITV Box Office. The official press announcement