The former world champion boxer Steve Collins was jubilant yesterday after the High Court dismissed the action taken against him by his former manager, the London boxing promoter, Mr Barry Hearn.
Mr Hearn had sued Mr Collins for breach of contract, but Mr Justice O'Sullivan ruled that, while there was an agreement, Mr Hearn had been responsible for "fundamental breaches" of it.
After yesterday's judgment the promoter said that he was considering appealing to the Supreme Court.
In a lengthy reserved judgment Mr Justice O'Sullivan held that there had been "fundamental breaches" by Mr Hearn, amounting to a repudiation of a management agreement he had had with Mr Collins, who had been holder of the World Boxing Organisation's super middleweight title. Mr Collins had denied breaching agreements with Mr Hearn.
The question of who will pay the estimated £500,000 legal costs of the case will not be decided until lawyers for both sides have considered the judgment.
The action against Mr Collins was taken by Mr Hearn, who had managed Mr Collins for a time, and his company, Matchroom Boxing Ltd. During Mr Collins's time with Mr Hearn, the Dublin boxer won the world title in a bout with the then champion, Chris Eubank, at Millstreet, Co Cork, in March 1995.
Mr Hearn had claimed that he was entitled to 25 per cent of Mr Collins's purses for three fights subsequent to the Eubank fight. It was claimed that these fights netted the boxer a total of £2.2 million. A 25 per cent share of that would have amounted to over £500,000.
Mr Hearn had also sought reimbursement for monies which he claimed to have spent on Mr Collins's preparations for fights.
In his judgment, which took two hours to deliver, Mr Justice O'Sullivan said one of the "fundamental breaches" of contract related to Mr Hearn's attack on the credibility of a rival London boxing promoter, Mr Frank Warren, who had been responsible for three fights, including a Collins-Eubank rematch, subsequent to Mr Collins winning the world title.
A second breach related to allegations made by Mr Hearn in correspondence with Mr Francisco Valcarcel, then president of the World Boxing Organisation.
The judge also took into consideration a letter dated June 6th 1995 in which Mr Collins had accepted the fact that Mr Hearn had repudiated their agreement.
"I cannot see how his manager, with an acknowledged obligation to do his best to achieve optimum earnings for his fighter, can justifiably attend a purse bid ceremony and launch an attack on the credibility of this substantial bidder and even go as far as suggesting that he should not be allowed to bid", Mr Justice O'Sullivan said.
He continued: "He has asked me to accept that the attack on Frank Warren and Sports Network was futile. If so, why did he travel to New York in order to launch it? He has asked me to accept that the Valcarcel correspondence means something comp letely and wholly different to what it plainly and repeatedly says.
"In both instances my impression is that Barry Hearn was engaged in an attack on, and an attempt to damage, his rival, Frank Warren, and Sports Network, and that he permitted himself in so doing to endanger the fundamental interests of his fighter, Steve Collins, whether this was his primary objective or merely an ancillary by-product."
Mr Justice O'Sullivan said he was satisfied that the attack by Mr Hearn on Frank Warren and Sports Network constituted a fundamental breach of his obligations to Mr Collins. It followed that no management fees could become owing to Mr Hearn or his company arising out of the Collins-Eubank rematch.
The judge also took into consideration a letter written by Mr Collins dated June 6th 1995 in which he held that the boxer was entitled to accept that Mr Hearn had repudiated their agreement because of the "fundamental breach" at the purse-bidding ceremony.