A £1 million "next fight" fee was sought by the Dublin boxer Steve Collins after he beat Chris Eubank for the world title at Millstreet in March 1995, the High Court was told yesterday.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan heard that when the boxer first approached the British promoter-manager, Mr Barry Hearn, he was considering retiring and was "on his backside".
Mr Hearn later agreed under cross-examination that it was probably an exaggeration to say that Mr Collins was "broken down" when he came to him.
He said he could not recall saying to the Millstreet arena owner, Mr Noel C. Duggan, that Chris Eubank would "play around with Paddy" for five rounds and then cut him up so badly that Mr Collins would not know what was happening to him.
Yesterday was the third day of an action brought by Mr Hearn, of Romford, Essex, and his company, Matchroom Boxing Ltd, against Mr Collins, of Pine House, Navan Road, Dublin, for alleged breach of contract.
Mr Hearn claims a one-year management agreement between him and the boxer was extended for a further year from May 1995. Mr Collins denies the claim.
Concluding his direct evidence yesterday, Mr Hearn said that about two weeks after the Millstreet fight he came to Dublin to pay Mr Collins his purse of about £145,000 net.
He gave Mr Collins two cheques, one for £125,000 which was payable to himself, and one for £20,000 payable to a company.
The meeting was held in Mr Collins's house and lasted several hours, with a break for lunch. They had had a social chat after the big win.
Mr Collins said he was looking for advice about land and building a house. Then the conversation had turned to his boxing career.
Mr Hearn said the reality of the situation was dawning. Mr Collins had made it clear he wanted at least £1 million for his next fight. He had initially sought such a sum after the Millstreet contest.
The entire conversation centred on money, Mr Hearn said. Mr Collins had obviously wanted to get as much as he could for his next fight.
They had discussed whom Mr Collins would fight, and a return fight with Chris Eubank was uppermost in the champion's mind. They agreed that the next fee could be for a rematch between the two men.
Mr Collins asked him to go away and consider what money might be offered for the contest.
Cross-examined by Mr Colm Allen SC, for Mr Collins, Mr Hearn said it was probably an exaggeration to say that Mr Collins was "broken down" when he initially approached him. He believed Mr Collins, who had lost two fights, was considering retiring from boxing.
Mr Hearn agreed that at the time he was probably the "number one" boxing promoter. His job was to get Mr Collins to number one as a boxer.
At the time Mr Collins was worthless as a boxing asset, not as a financial person. He did not know what Mr Collins's financial position was but assumed that he was probably better off than Mr Collins.
He was aware Mr Collins was living in rented accommodation at the time and was not a house owner. Asked if he would accept that Mr Collins was "on his backside" and that he was at his pinnacle as a boxing promoter, Mr Hearn said he would.
Asked if he did not sign a contract with Mr Collins in 1993 because he (Mr Hearn) did not want to, Mr Hearn said a contract was not necessary and was not an issue between them at that stage. When it came to the point of winning a world title, Mr Hearn said, he felt he needed a contract.
Mr Hearn said that while Matchroom Boxing lost £27,000 on the Millstreet promotion, he had received 25 per cent of Mr Eubank's purse on the management side. That was not promotional. Twenty-five per cent of Mr Eubank's £700,000 purse was about £175,000.
Asked how much the trainer, Mr Freddy King, was paid, Mr Hearn said that in 1995 he would have earned in the region of £100,000.
Mr Eubank had been beaten by a better boxer on the night and was making excuses after being beaten and losing his title.
At the time he had a £6 million eight-fight deal with Sky Sports in respect of Mr Eubank, of which he would get 25 per cent and ancillary rights.
When Mr Eubank lost to Mr Collins, the Sky Sports deal was halved in respect of the next two Eubank fights. He had suffered financially as a result of the Eubank defeat but had probably gained financially overall, Mr Hearn said.
He no longer had any world champions on his books.
The trial continues today.