Ray Close, the former European super-middleweight champion who has died aged 57, had just emerged as one of Northern Ireland’s most talented boxers before a failed MRI brain scan in 1995 torpedoed a promising career; it was a cruel blow for a fighter from Barney Eastwood’s celebrated Belfast gym who had come up the hard way before giving the-then unbeaten world champion Chris Eubank two of his hardest fights.

At a stroke the genial Irishman was denied a potential string of lucrative paydays, as well as the chance of cementing his legacy and building a sizeable fanbase in the United States.

In his first encounter with Eubank – at Glasgow’s Scottish Exhibition Centre in May 1993 – Close made a mockery of pre-fight forecasts that Eubank would enjoy an easy defence of his World Boxing Organisation super-middleweight title by forging ahead on points through an exceptional workrate.

Then, not for the first or last time, Eubank somehow snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by sending his tormentor to the canvas with a searing right uppercut in round 11.

Close, who did well to beat the count, somehow managed to withstand heavy bombardment and survive to the final bell, only for the champion to retain his title on a split draw, the scores being 116-113 for Close and 116-112 for Eubank, with a third judge having them level at 115-115.

Although Eubank argued that the fight should have been stopped, the Irishman had inflicted the first blemish on the Brighton man’s record. No one had pushed Eubank so close before.

“I was the first one to put a mark on his record, and he’d been in with some great fighters, so I was happy enough,” said Close. “It was absolutely electric, that’s what I remember.”

Their eagerly anticipated rematch, which took place at a packed King’s Hall in Belfast in May 1994, was preceded by the bizarre sight of a “leprechaun” scattering a trail of glitter around the ring which had to be laboriously cleared up before Close and Eubank were able to renew hostilities.

Although Close actually improved on his gallant display at Glasgow and pushed Eubank to his very limits, the judges awarded the Englishman a split decision to leave the east Belfast man devastated on what he had hoped would be his night of nights.

“Ray had the heart of a lion in both of our fights,” Eubank recalled. “He took big shots in the 10th round this time, but kept in there.”

While the tenacious Close had clearly done enough to justify a third match, the British Boxing Board of Control revoked his licence after he failed that routine MRI scan.

Raymond Close was born in Belfast on January 20 1969 and started boxing at Ledley Hall Youth and Boxing Club aged 10 before moving to the Abbey Boxing Academy. Following an impressive amateur career he turned professional in 1988, having perfected a disciplined, high-guard style built around his jab.

“I was a boxer, and I think that’s the best way,” he said. “I had a good jab so I always led with my left hand.”

Despite an early loss to the Welshman Denys Cronin which he subsequently avenged, Close made rapid progress, winning the Irish super-middleweight crown in his seventh bout with a seventh-round stoppage of Rocky McGran at the Ulster Hall in October 1989 and overcoming Terry Magee in his first defence.

A stoppage loss to France’s Frank Nicotra in July 1992, however, persuaded the Ulsterman to intensify his training.

“That was a big learning curve for me,” he admitted. “I just thought: ‘I have to run more.’ ” He duly built up his stamina with increased roadwork.

This improved conditioning paid off when he stopped Vincenzo Nardiello in the 10th round to seize the European Boxing Union belt at Campione d’Italia, Lombardia, on St Patrick’s Day in 1993, at a time when the cynical belief prevailed that British boxers needed a knock-out simply to obtain a draw in Italy.

Stripped of his licence when the MRI scan revealed two lesions on his brain, Close struggled to accept that his fighting days were over.

“I’d love to box again,” he admitted. “If you retire on your own merits, OK, but when you’re told ‘That’s it,’ it’s harder to deal with.”

Having obtained a licence from a boxing commission in Illinois he returned in 1996 to win five more fights against mediocre opposition before bowing out with 25 wins – 14 by stoppage – against three defeats and that one draw against Eubank.

Having settled back in Bangor, Co Down, with his family, Close worked for a time at Belfast City Airport helping passengers with mobility difficulties and trained amateurs at his old club, Ledley Hall, where he remained a hugely popular and inspirational figure.

The punishment he had sustained in the ring had taken its toll, however, and he spent his final years at the Phoenix Clinic in Newtownards, a specialist facility caring for adults with physical disabilities.

A lifelong Mormon, Close is survived by his wife, Linda, three sons, and his daughter, Sarah, the first female boxer to win a fight at the Ulster Hall.