The referee of the Steve Collins-Chris Eubank world title fight in Millstreet, Co Cork, said in the High Court yesterday that he had reported "improper" approaches made to him before the contest.
Mr Ron Lipton said he had reported to Mr John Montano, the fight supervisor, what he considered to be two or three improper approaches made to him prior to the bout.
Yesterday was the 16th day of the case in which Mr Barry Hearn and Matchroom Boxing are suing Mr Collins for breach of contract, a charge that is denied by the boxer.
Mr Hearn made two of these approaches to him, Mr Lipton said. He did not realise until some time after the Millstreet contest in March 1995 that Mr Hearn was also the manager of Mr Collins at the time.
At a meeting of the Rules Committee prior to the fight, it appeared as if no one was representing Mr Collins, he said under cross-examination by Mr Paul Gallagher SC, for Mr Hearn.
There was chaos at the meeting, he said. Mr Eubank did not want to fight Mr Collins and everyone thought they were going home. One of Mr Eubank's seconds was screaming and yelling at him to change his mind.
Mr Lipton said that prior to the fight he had not informed a WBO official of the threats and improper approaches made to him
because of the close connections Mr Hearn had with the WBO. He said he wanted to speak to someone neutral.
At the time his main concern was that his hotel room had been illegally entered and his possessions destroyed. His clothes had been cut up and his rule book taken.
After the fight, Mr Hearn's organisation, Matchroom Boxing, wrote to the WBO alleging a bathrobe was missing from his (the referee's) room. But this was just a ruse to involve him in a situation in which he was a victim, Mr Lipton said.
He was told that Mr Hearn and Mr Eubank were dissatisfied that he had not marked a slip by Mr Collins in Round 2 as a knockdown.
Mr Lipton said that, after the Milstreet contest, he had been "blackballed" by the WBO, which had not chosen him to referee any of its contests since. He thought a reason for this might be because he was unapproachable.
After reading a copy of an article in Boxing Monthly criticising his handling of a Roy Jones fight, Mr Lipton said he did not agree with its conclusions. Neither did he accept criticism in another Boxing News article of his handling of a different fight.
He rejected a suggestion by Mr Gallagher that he was lying to the court about who called the doctor during the last round of the Loughran-Duran bout in Belfast.
He accepted that a bill for slippers, a bathrobe and video which went missing from his room was sent to the WBO. But he had made a complaint about these items going missing before the fight. He also complained about his clothes being ripped up and certain articles missing from his room.
Mr Gallagher said he would call evidence from the Garda and the manager of the Aghadoe Heights Hotel in Killarney that what Mr Lipton was claiming was not true.