The High Court battle between the Dublin boxer Steve Collins and the London promoter Mr Barry Hearn is nearing its end. The case for Mr Collins will conclude today, regardless of the availability of two remaining witnesses. Mr Colm Allen SC, for Mr Collins, said that he was ready to make his closing submission today irrespective of whether Mr Noel C. Duggan, of Millstreet, Co Cork, and Mr Chris Roberts, of the US Sports Network, were available to give evidence on behalf of his client. A third defence witness, Mr John O'Shea, of GOAL, was in Rwanda and would be unavailable, counsel said.
Yesterday was the 22nd day of the action taken by Mr Hearn and his company, Matchroom Boxing, against Mr Collins, of Pine House, Navan Road, Dublin, alleging breach of contract. Mr Collins denies the claim.
Mr Allen said that the case had been long and complicated and the defence needed time to conclude its preparations for its closing submissions. Mr Justice O'Sullivan said it would be helpful if submissions from both sides were linked to the transcripts of evidence given in court.
The former Irish amateur and professional boxer, Mr Mel Christle, now president of the Boxing Union of Ireland, concluded his evidence yesterday. Mr Christle said that it would be a breach of the manager-fighter relationship if a boxing manager who managed two fighters approached the referee before they were due to fight and warned him of one fighter's "dirtiness". Whether it was a serious breach would depend on the nature of the conversation, he said.
The proper forum for any such conversation would be the pre-fight rules committee meeting which took place on the eve of the Millstreet bout between Collins and Eubank, he said. Normally, the boxers' trainers or seconds attended such a meeting, and it would be up to them to raise any apprehensions they might have.
Mr Christle disagreed with Mr Allen, for Mr Collins, that the rules meeting on the eve of the Millstreet fight ended in chaos.
Cross-examined by Mr Paul Gallagher SC, for Mr Hearn, Mr Christle said that the referee of the Millstreet fight, Mr Ron Lipton, had made no complaints to him at the time of the fight or since then. The Millstreet fight was the "jewel in the crown" as far as Steve Collins's career was concerned, Mr Christle said.
The only complaint Mr Christle recalled from Millstreet concerned the referee being annoyed about his clothes being cut up. He said that he had never come across instances where Steve Collins had intentionally used his head in a fight. He was a tough fighter who would not give an inch, but he was not a dirty fighter.
Recalled to the witness box yesterday, Mr Hearn said he had heard the Millstreet referee say that he (Mr Hearn) had twice approached the referee, saying Steve Collins was a dirty fighter who unfairly used his head in the ring. This was a fabrication, Mr Hearn said. He had never approached the referee in the manner described and would never do so.
The hearing resumes today.