Boxing: Eubank offered Close encounter on Irish soil

CHRIS EUBANK could collect a purse of pounds 700,000 for fighting Ulster's Ray Close in Ireland in May. The offer was made yesterday by the promoter, Frank Warren, in conjunction with Close's manager, Barney Eastwood, and Don King.

The proposed purse would match the one Eubank earned for beating Germany's Graciano Rocchigiani in Saturday's World Boxing Organisation super-middleweight title defence in Berlin. 'If Eubank accepts the money, let him have all the pressure by fighting in Belfast,' Warren said. 'I'm sure he can cope with it. If he doesn't want to go to Northern Ireland, we can make a compromise by taking the fight to Dublin.'

Lennox Lewis, ordered by an arbitrator to accept a challenge from the No 4 contender, Phil Jackson, for his WBC heavyweight title in May, said yesterday he wants the fight to go on in London, even if it means a post-midnight start. But a British venue would need starting at 2am to suit American cable television, with whom Lewis has a contract.