In an affidavit, Mr Lobov said it was at the Naas Road gym that he challenged Mr McGregor about being excluded from communications about the future of the whiskey brand.
While the brand name at this point was “Notorious Irish whiskey”, it was changed to Proper No 12 when American businessman, Ken Austin, who has a background in the spirits industry, also got involved as a shareholder, he said. Mr McGregor also made the “5 per cent is yours no matter what” remark, in the presence of a number of others, and it was “confirmed by a handshake”, Mr Lobov said.
He said he refused the €1 million offer as wholly inadequate in view of the 5 per cent deal. Mr Lobov, who is now retired from fighting and has a Master’s in Business and Capital Financing from DCU, said that while he was no longer in contact with Mr McGregor he still believed the 5 per cent promise would be honoured.