Daniel Kinahan appears to be at the heart of a campaign to sportswash his image as the suspected boss of a $1 billion cartel

• Daniel Kinahan is one of boxing's most powerful figures.
• His associates and clients talk at length about what a good guy he is.
• But he's also the reputed figurehead of a $1 billion gang.

A rare, lengthy statement released by Daniel Kinahan appears to have been part of a campaign to sportswash his image as the reputed boss of a $1 billion drugs and weapons cartel.

Kinahan, one of boxing's most powerful figures, is using the sport as a vehicle to rehabilitate his image, with some media outlets seemingly willing to drive that message home on his behalf.

He offers advice to numerous combat athletes and has helped organize many world championship bouts.

He is also in the process of organizing more, and is making it known that he's behind the fights in a more public manner than ever before.

"I continue to be involved in planning multiple record-breaking and exciting world title fights: I'm doing all I can to give fight fans around the world the fights they want," Kinahan said a statement issued to Talksport this month.

The full statement, which was read aloud on the radio by a voice actor, ran to some 800 words, and can be seen in full on Talksport's website.

It went unchallenged by the publication, and Talksport even turned off comments on its accompanying tweet.

'Boxing and the Mob'

Kinahan's statement was published just a week after the BBC broadcast an episode of its Panorama magazine show titled "Boxing and the Mob."

It focused on Kinahan, a company he founded called MTK Global, and the Dubai-based Irishman's alleged links to organized crime.

It followed decades-long reporting from crime journalists in Ireland, and brought Kinahan into the public eye in the UK like never before.

Kinahan has never been charged with a crime.

The High Court in Ireland has heard accusations that he is the leader of a gang known as The Cartel which specializes in execution-style murders, as Insider detailed last year.

Since the BBC's documentary, some of Kinahan's clients have offered gushing praise of his business practices in boxing - ignoring why he remains so controversial.

The MTK-affiliated iFL channel on YouTube has been seeking comments on Kinahan from interview subjects who are either athletes in the MTK roster, or associates of Kinahan and MTK's in boxing.

MTK maintains that it has no formal relationship with Kinahan but acknowledges he "provides personal advice to a number of boxers managed by MTK Global," the BBC reported at the time its Panorama programme was released.

In the last week, iFL garnered comments from Kinahan-advised athletes like Billy Joe Saunders and Sunny Edwards, and the boxing coach Ben Davison, who has a close affiliation to MTK.

All spoke positively about Kinahan.

Davison noted on Twitter that Kinahan is responsible for organizing elite boxing matches like Josh Taylor vs. Jose Ramirez, Billy Joe Saunders vs. Saul Alvarez, and the upcoming Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua match up. He added that the sport is "in a strong place because of this man's passion."

Another YouTube channel called Behind The Gloves is sponsored by S-Jam Boxing, a boxing management company that in 2019 announced a partnership with MTK. According to Companies House, S-Jam is run by Sam Jones and Adam Morallee.

Morallee is also the founder of Brandsmiths, a law firm that represents Kinahan in the UK.

In a recent video posted by Behind The Gloves, the president of MTK Global Foundation, Spencer Fearon spoke about Kinahan.

"If anyone loves boxing, I'm telling you this man you should have a picture of Daniel Kinahan in your house - and that's that. Daniel Kinahan could be the messiah of boxing," he said.

This is all great PR if you're Kinahan. But it does not tell the full story.

Kinahan can hardly be the messiah of boxing when the sport in Ireland has been practically non-existent at elite level since a deadly shooting at a weigh-in ceremony five years ago.

Kinahan was making his biggest move as a boxing promoter at that time, ahead of an event called "The Clash of the Clans."

But the entire event was canceled when an armed attack at the weigh-in by intruders disguised as policemen left one man dead and another two people wounded.

"It was utterly terrifying," Kevin McAnena, a BBC reporter present told CBS News at the time.

'A brazen military-style attack'

On that day, a man named David Byrne was shot dead.

Byrne was an alleged drug dealer, and a senior figure within the organized crime group allegedly associated with Kinahan, according to "The Cartel", a 2018 book by Stephen Breen and Owen Conlon, both crime reporters for The Irish Sun.

A court heard that he was shot six times with wounds to his head, face, abdomen, hands, and thigh, The Irish Sun reported two years ago.

Two other men were also shot, but survived.

In "The Cartel," Breen describes the Regency shooting as a "brazen military-style attack" launched by one criminal gang, the Hutch firm, on its rival.

Breen's theory is that the real target for the shooting was Daniel Kinahan, who was watching the weigh-in take place.

When the shooting began, Kinahan was pushed to safety by his bodyguard. He fled the building and caught a flight to London to lay low, according to "The Cartel."

This sparked the catalyst for a bloody, one-sided feud that was undertaken at Kinahan's request, award-winning Irish crime reporter Nicola Tallant told Insider.

"There was just murder, after murder, after murder," Tallant said.

Paul Reynolds of RTE reported in 2020 that to date the Kinahan-Hutch feud has "resulted in the deaths of 18 people" in Ireland and Spain.

The weigh-in shooting that started the feud tarnished boxing's image in Ireland. No major shows have taken place there since.

The Irish Boxing Union President Christle told Insider that "the reality now is that Irish MTK fighters box in Northern Ireland, the UK, or further afield.

"MTK have not promoted in the Republic of Ireland since the Regency shooting."

Kinahan's power in boxing has grown substantially, though, and through industry sources Insider understands that he has a substantial network of boxing operatives in Europe.

As Kinahan said in his statement, he continues "to be involved in planning" major boxing matches. Sources have previously told Insider that he does so from afar, ruling with an iron fist.

Two boxing industry sources previously told Insider that Kinahan rules boxing using fear, coercion, and bullying. The two sources spoke to Insider under the condition of anonymity, citing a fear of the suspected international mob boss.

At the time of that story's publication in July 2020, Insider requested comment from Kinahan's legal representative but never received a reply.

The PR drive that Kinahan seems to be at the heart of, therefore, fails to give the wider context of the story.

The boxing internet sleuth only known as AreJayWoof on Twitter has been keeping a running thread on the media's sportswashing of Kinahan's image.

You can see part of it here:

'Kinahan's sportswashing efforts must be crushed'

The image that Kinahan, his associates, and affiliated media channels convey is at odds with the reputation he has in his native Ireland.

A Dublin politician Neale Richmond, of Fine Gael, recently issued a statement on the party's official website, titled "Kinahan's sportwashing efforts must be crushed."

In the statement, Richmond said: "This BBC Panorama documentary, 'Boxing and the Mob', by Darragh MacIntyre, further highlights the evil actions of Kinahan and how he is still active in the world of boxing from his bolthole in Dubai.

"There is a responsibility on promoters, TV channels, and fans that mob bosses such as Kinahan are not involved in boxing at any level.

"Any fight or enterprise involving MTK must be questioned and if Kinahan is involved, it needs to be stopped - it is that simple.

"Daniel Kinahan should not be allowed live a charmed life in exile as the families of his gang's victims continue to mourn here in Ireland. No one should be silent on who this man really is.

"As per the Irish courts, Daniel Kinahan is the most notorious mob boss Ireland has seen for years, his cartel has heaped misery on the streets of our capital through drugs, terror, and murder.

"His desperate attempts to portray himself as a legitimate and misunderstood businessman are simply pathetic," Richmond finished.