Barry McGuigan 'accepted £1,000' to put fighters on bill

A court has been told that boxing promoter Barry McGuigan accepted £1,000 in cash to put two fighters on the same Belfast bill as Carl Frampton.

The High Court heard it happened before Mr Frampton fought against French boxer Jeremy Parodi in October 2013.

Mr McGuigan's barrister disputed the version of events outlined in court.

The exchange came on the ninth day of hearings in a legal dispute involving Mr McGuigan and Mr Frampton, whom he used to manage.

The pair had a successful partnership before they split in August 2017.

The court was told last month that Mr Frampton is claiming £6m in unpaid earnings.

Separately, the court heard Mr Frampton is being sued for almost £4m for allegedly breaching his contract.

On Tuesday, Belfast boxing promoter Mark Dunlop gave evidence in the case.

He said that when he heard that Carl Frampton was due to fight in Belfast in October 2013 he offered Mr McGuigan £1,000 to put two of his fighters - James Tennyson and Daniel McShane - on the undercard for the main bout.

He said he met Mr McGuigan at a boxing club in the run-up to the fight and told him he had the money.

"He asked me to give it to him outside," Mr Dunlop said.

He said he was not given a receipt.

"As far as I'm aware I'm the only one who had to pay to get on that show," he said.

Mr McGuigan's barrister Liam McCollum QC told the court: "Mr McGuigan has no memory whatsoever of any such arrangement."

The court was also told the boxers were later paid for fighting on the under-card and received commission on tickets which they sold for the event.

Mr Dunlop said they only received 5% commission, but Mr McCollum said it was 10%.

The case resumed at the High Court on Tuesday after a break of almost three weeks for legal reasons.

The first witness was a former personal assistant of Mr McGuigan, Cherri Norman, who worked for him between 2007 and 2015.

She was asked about events in 2013 when Mr McGuigan split with the promotion company Matchroom.

Mrs Norman said: "I remember Barry, it was probably the only time I saw him a little bit panicked.

"He was worried that he may have done something quite bad for Carl's career."

Both Mr McGuigan and Mr Frampton have denied any wrongdoing.

The case continues.