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. 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