- A Dubai-based Irishman called
Daniel Kinahan , who authorities suspect runs a crime cartel that has generated $1 billion in revenues, has become one ofboxing 's most influential figures. - Kinahan is the dealmaker in a two-fight series between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, announced by Sky
Sports on Wednesday. - Kinahan is notorious in his native Ireland, and has been widely condemned by the nation's politicians.
- However, he has not been arrested or charged, has no convictions, and is at liberty to organize boxing's biggest bouts from his residence in Dubai.
- A legal representative for Kinahan declined to answer questions from Insider. In a statement, the law firm Brandsmiths said Kinahan had been defamed by the press before, and was considering legal action.
- One commentator characterized Kinahan's involvement as a new low for the sport.
Boxers weigh in at the Regency Hotel in Whitehall, an area to the north of Dublin city.
Naked aside from their underwear, they step onto the scales and then flex their muscles for photographers.
It's February 5, 2016, and Daniel Kinahan, is making his biggest move as a boxing promoter for an event called "The Clash of the Clans."
He has already had dark allegations made against him in Ireland. The Irish political party Fine Gael would later call him "one of Ireland's most dangerous criminals" — though he has never been charged with or convicted of a crime there.
Kinahan's night of fights in 2016 was scheduled to go ahead at Dublin's National Boxing Stadium the following day.
A local fighter called Jamie Kavanagh was headlining the show, due to compete against Portuguese boxer Antonio Joao Bento for the WBO European lightweight title.
But the entire show was canceled because of what happened next at the weigh-in — an armed attack by intruders disguised as policemen which left one man dead and another two people wounded.
Four years on, Kinahan is now involved in an even bigger event, acting as a boxing agent and adviser to heavyweight champion Tyson Fury for a two-fight series against fellow world titlist Anthony Joshua.
The fight is slated to be the most lucrative and most-watched combat sports event of the year.
A representative for Fury said he "didn't know of the allegations" against Kinahan.
There is no suggestion that Joshua has been involved with Kinahan or was aware of his activities. Representatives for Joshua declined to comment when contacted by Insider.
Kinahan is an elusive figure, rarely seen in public, and little-known outside of Ireland.
Irish police, known as the Garda, declined to discuss Kinahan with Insider, citing a blanket policy not to comment on individual cases.
However, Irish politicians have called him a criminal and a gang lord. One, Neale Richmond of the Fine Gael party, this week claimed Kinahan is involved with the country's "most infamous criminal outfit," and Kinahan has been condemned in parliament by the country's prime minister.
While Kinahan himself was not the subject of the proceedings, the Irish High Court has heard accusations that claim he is the leader of a gang known as The Cartel, which has generated vast profits from organized crime.
The gang's operations are "managed and controlled" by Kinahan and his brother, Christopher, according to a 2019 ruling of the Irish High Court reported by the Irish Times. The ruling itself was never published.
A separate 2018 hearing in the Irish High Court, about how to dispose of assets linked to the gang, heard claims by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) that its operations were estimated to have generated 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion), according to the Irish Mirror.
In the hearing, the CAB said the group's activities include drugs trafficking and smuggling weapons.
What is incontrovertible is that Kinahan has a tightening hold over boxing. He has advanced from a regional events organizer at the "Clash of the Clans" to someone so powerful that legacy fight firms like Top Rank in the US (which represents Fury) and Matchroom Sport in the UK (which looks after Joshua) take a back seat while Kinahan scours the Middle East for potential venues.
Prominent figures in boxing have praised Kinahan, apparently happy to engage with him to help make the sport's grandest bouts.
Those who know his backstory are less cheery. Insider spoke to two Irish crime and security journalists who have covered Kinahan and The Cartel for years.
Sky Sports announced that a verbal agreement between Fury and Joshua had been struck this week, pushing Kinahan even further into the spotlight, with Fury thanking Kinahan for "making this happen" in a video posted to Twitter.
Irish politicians are appalled.
"We all know exactly the type of murder and havoc Daniel Kinahan and his gang have dealt on the streets of Dublin and this country," said Richmond, a sitting politician representing Dublin-Rathdown for Fine Gael.
"Murder, drugs, and intimidation is the modus operandi of Ireland's most infamous criminal outfit."
Eoin O Broin, a politician for Sinn Fein, put the party's rivalry with Fine Gael aside and agreed with Richmond. "It is rare that Neale and I agree," O Broin said on Twitter. "But on this issue he is 100% correct."
—Eoin Ó Broin (@EOBroin) June 11, 2020
Representatives for Kinahan declined to answer specific questions from Insider.
A spokesperson for Brandsmiths, the law firm acting for Daniel Kinahan in the UK, said: "We have been instructed by Mr. Kinahan to write to certain newspapers which have published gravely defamatory statements about him, and to bring proceedings against those newspapers if the relief requested is not forthcoming.
"The fact that defamatory allegations are consistently repeated does not afford the maker of those repeated statements a defence."
Though Kinahan's name has been thrust into the mainstream only recently, he has long been involved in boxing, and captivated the attention of the front and back pages of newspapers because of the 2016 weigh in that ended in gunfire.
A weigh in that looked like a war zone
At approximately 2.30 p.m. on February 5, 2016, three men disguised as Ireland's SWAT-like ERU police guards, and a fourth man dressed in drag wearing make-up and a wig, stormed the Regency Hotel armed with assault rifles.
When they left a few minutes later, two people had been shot, and another was dead.
Kevin McAnena, a BBC reporter, saw one man shot in the leg. As the attack unfolded, he hid behind the reception desk and thought he was going to die when he saw an assault rifle aimed at his head.
"It was utterly terrifying," McAnena said, according to CBS News at the time.
Though the gunman did not shoot McAnena, others were not so fortunate.
The man McAnena saw shot was an alleged drug dealer called David Byrne who was 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.
Byrne died that day. 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.
Mel Christle, the president of the Boxing Union of Ireland, saw the dead man's body slumped by the reception desk.
"He was riddled," Christle said.
Two other men were also shot, but survived.
One injured man, Sean McGovern was alleged to be a low-ranking member of the Kinahan cartel, according to Breen and Conlon.
In their book, they alleged that the third victim, Aaron Bolger, was a Kinahan "hanger on."
There were some 300 people at the weigh-in, including athletes, trainers, event organizers, media crew, and boxing fans, and when the shots were fired, people evacuated in all directions, The Irish Independent reported.
The scene was "absolute pandemonium," a witness told the Independent.
Watch the chaos below (warning — features gunfire):
John Glynn, the manager of the Regency, made an emergency call to police but, according to Breen in "The Cartel," he mistakenly believed it was Irish police who "were shooting people" in his hotel — those disguises had worked.
Paul Reynolds, a crime correspondent for Ireland's national broadcaster RTE said: "One of the Garda cars responding to reports of the shooting could not get there at emergency speed because the driver was not trained."
When Garda eventually did arrive, the hotel was a bloody mess.
The man at the reception desk wasn't moving. "[His] head and shoulders were turned at an awkward angle and blood oozed onto the floor from beneath the left side of his torso," according to Breen and Conlon.
There was "another man clutching his stomach and a third holding his thigh, both grimacing in pain."
Breen told Insider that he has been investigating crime in Dublin, and specifically the Kinahans, for more than a decade.
In "The Cartel," he 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 fled the scene without a scratch.
As the event's organizer, Kinahan was watching the weigh-in take place.
But when the shooting began, Kinahan was pushed to safety by his bodyguard. He then made his way to the roof of the building, jumped down, and caught a flight to London to lay low, according to "The Cartel."
The Irish Independent reported years later that, back inside the building, a gunman could be heard saying: "He's not f---ing here."
Why did the Regency attack happen in 2016?
After the shooting, Breen wrote in "The Cartel," the authorities were stunned and the Kinahan gang was stupefied. It had been "the undisputed top dog of Ireland's criminal world [since 2010]," Breen said.
"It controlled the country's drugs and arms traffic and very little happened without its say-so, particularly if it would affect the gang's business interests.
"The previous September, Gary Hutch, once a key member of the Cartel, and an ally and personal friend of Daniel Kinahan, had been shot dead at his apartment in southern Spain.
"Hutch had been accused of trying to kill his former boss, though he protested his innocence."
The attack on the Regency was revenge, Breen claimed, since associates of Gary Hutch knew Kinahan would be there.
As the cartel regrouped, one thing became clear. "There would be hell to pay," Breen said.
What happened after the Regency attack in 2016?
Nicola Tallant, an award-winning crime and security reporter for the Irish newspaper The Sunday World, told Insider recently that the Regency attack was the prompt for much more killing.
"We've had this horrendous feud that kicked off at [Daniel Kinahan's] request after the Regency hotel attack, and I've never seen the likes of it.
"There was just shootings … one after the other, and the savagery of his revenge was quite extraordinary, really shocking, for the first six months until the guards [police] got a handle on it.
"There was just murder, after murder, after murder," Tallant said. "And the other side … just hadn't the firepower to go back. It was just a slaughter in Dublin, certainly for the first year of it."
After Byrne was killed at the Regency hotel, the Irish Times published a timeline of the violent Kinahan and Hutch feud.
Here is a brief list of the killings which immediately followed that weigh-in on February 5, according to The Irish Times:
- Eddie Hutch Sr. — shot dead February 8. The Irish Times reported that police believe Hutch was shot "simply because he was a member of the Hutch family."
- Noel Duggan — shot dead March 23 because of his apparent association with "veteran criminal" Gerry Hutch, according to the Irish Times, which cited the Garda.
- Martin O'Rourke — shot dead April 14 in a reported case of mistaken identity. Garda believe the intended target was Keith Murtagh, who is apparently a close associate of Gary Hutch.
- Michael Barr — killed April 25 as gunmen sought the source which supplied the guns in the Regency attack.
- Gareth Hutch — shot dead May 24 as two attackers opened fire at a parking lot near where Hutch lived.
… that list goes on.
To date, Reynolds of RTE reported in May that the Kinahan-Hutch feud has "resulted in the deaths of 18 people" in Ireland and Spain.
"[It has] marked our gangland history forever," Tallant told Insider. "Everything in this country, crime-wise, for nearly 10 years, has always made its way back to the Kinahans, and Daniel Kinahan."
Who is Daniel Kinahan?
Daniel Kinahan has no criminal convictions. But he "is the No.1 target of our drugs and organized crime bureau here," Tallant told Insider.
She said that the Spanish, Dutch, and US authorities "have all been working together to try and shut down this cartel for a long time."
Insider contacted US Drug Enforcement Administration, which declined to comment on Kinahan.
Spanish police arrested Kinahan and his father in 2010 on the Costa Del Sol, according to media reports from the time, though it did not result in a prosecution. Dutch police did not respond to a request for comment.
Breen said similar. "The Cartel" author said that Kinahan would have been "a target for Garda" as long ago as 2009, when he was 31.
Breen, the Sun writer, described Kinahan, now 42, as a natural bully and "definitely destined to step into his father's footsteps."
In recent days a slew of Irish political figures have stepped forward to condemn Kinahan.
Fine Gael published a press release describing Kinahan as "evil" and asserting that he is the leader of the Kinahan crime gang, citing the CAB evidence to the High Court.
On June 11, Fine Gael leader and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in parliament referred to Kinahan as a man with a "checkered history in this state and elsewhere."
Alan Kelly, the leader of Ireland's Labour Party, wrote an open letter requesting government intervention.
"The Kinahan organized crime group has destroyed lives and communities in this country," the lawmaker wrote Thursday.
"A key figure is now rebranding himself as an international boxing promoter with impunity.
"This is someone identified by the Criminal Assets Bureau as a leading figure of organized crime here and abroad.
"A High Court ruling stated that he controlled the Kinahan crime gang, which is involved in drugs and weapons smuggling on a global scale.
"What is the government going to do about this insult to the Irish people who have lived for years with the drugs and gun violence the Kinahan group has brought into this country?
The High Court ruling to which Kelly referred appears to be the same reported by the Irish Times in 2019.
See Kelly's letter in full here:
—The Labour Party (@labour) June 11, 2020
Kinahan is currently believed to be in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai. Varadkar said that there has been contact between Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs and the UAE over Kinahan.
It is from Dubai that Kinahan further established himself as one of boxing's most influential figures.
Here's Daniel Kinahan pictured alongside the WBC heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury:
—TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) March 8, 2017
Kinahan has a clear relationship with heavyweight champion Fury
Kinahan had previously been operating in the shadows of boxing.
He founded Macklin's Gym Marbella, Spain, in 2012 with the former European middleweight champion Matthew Macklin.
There is no suggestion Macklin is involved in criminal activity.
The gym, with its state-of-the-art facilities, later became a management firm to represent fighters. It rebranded to MTK and distanced itself from Kinahan in 2017.
However, in May 2020 MTK said Kinahan still advised its roster of fighters which includes prominent British boxers like Billy Joe Saunders and Tyson Fury, together with the UFC fighter Darren Till.
There is no suggestion that any of the fighters are involved in or aware of any criminal activity.
Pictured below, Kinahan (far right) with (from left) the UFC fighter Darren Till and MTK ambassador Mohamed M. Al Arayedh.
Later in May, MTK announced that it was in a partnership with Kinahan, as reported by RTE.
Now, Kinahan is trying to organize the world's biggest fights. Despite his background, the sport is powerless to stop him as there is no governing body to provide a "fit and proper" person test of the kind common in other sports.
Kinahan advises elite fighters. Dealmakers — from Top Rank founder Bob Arum and Queensberry Promotions boss Frank Warren, to the group managing director of Matchroom Sport, Eddie Hearn — are obliged to engage with him.
Kinahan is the man responsible for sealing a two-fight "agreement" between boxing's leading heavyweights Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, which Sky Sports announced Wednesday.
It is an agreement which would generate hundreds of millions of dollars.
Fury personally thanked Kinahan in a video message on Twitter.
—TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) June 10, 2020
It is not clear which networks would air the Joshua-Fury fight. But Insider contacted Sky Sports and Disney-owned ESPN, which have contracts with Joshua and Fury respectively.
Neither would comment specifically on Kinahan.
Disney passed Insider's message on to ESPN, which said it was up to Top Rank to comment on its business practices.
Insider then requested comment from Top Rank but is yet to hear a reply.
Insider asked Sky twice on June 5 if it would broadcast bouts associated with Daniel Kinahan, considering his background.
Sky deferred instead to its broadcast contract with Matchroom and Hearn, representing Joshua.
Earlier in the month, Sky told us it does not have direct dealings with MTK or Kinahan, even though it has been broadcasting MTK fights.
—Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) June 12, 2020
Top Rank founder Arum, who promotes Fury, has lavished praise on Kinahan last month.
He said Top Rank and Matchroom were taking a back seat with the Fury vs. Joshua venue negotiation as Kinahan sought a suitable site in the Middle East.
It is a fight which could be worth close to $200 million, Fox Sports said.
"He's one of my favourite guys," Arum said of Kinahan, according to RTE. "I like to deal with guys, no-nonsense people, whose word is their bond."
Arum also praised Kinahan's connections in the Middle East. "Everybody trusts Kinahan with handling that situation," he said.
Frank Warren of Queensberry, a firm which co-promotes Fury, told The Irish Sun this week that he "didn't know of the allegations" against Kinahan.
"I was unaware of these court cases that you refer to. I didn't know of the allegations or who made them. I cannot comment," he told the newspaper.
Warren, of Queensberry, said Wednesday: "Negotiations had taken place between Hearn and Kinahan."
"Tyson Fury is promoted by Bob Arum at Top Rank and Frank Warren at Queensberry Promotions, but we were told by both those parties, and Tyson Fury himself, that for this fight we had to negotiate with his adviser, Daniel Kinahan," Hearn told The Times of London newspaper.
When
"We all know exactly the type of murder and havoc Daniel Kinahan and his gang have dealt on the streets of Dublin and this country.
"Murder, drugs, and intimidation is the modus operandi of Ireland's most infamous criminal outfit.
"The fact that this trail of bloodshed is now being totally whitewashed by some in the international boxing community is a disgrace.
"Allowing Kinahan to hide his notorious gangland activities behind a veneer of a respectable boxing promoter cannot be allowed to happen.
The Irish Sun reported in May spoke to former Dublin mayor Nial Ring, now an independent councilor, who said: "I have seen what a criminal gang named in open court as the Kinahan organization has done to the north inner city of Dublin — and what they have done should never be forgotten.
"People in professional boxing should take a look at themselves and who they are dealing with."
The safety of those involved in boxing could be at stake
The two Irish crime reporters told Insider that Kinahan's involvement in boxing puts people involved in danger.
"There's definitely a threat to fans, and to people in the vicinity of Daniel," Tallant told Insider.
"It's a clear and present danger," Tallant said. "And we're just very, very aware of it in this country."
She added: "We totally understand the brutality, violence, aggression, revenge … all those things bubbling away.
"It's easy to get caught up in the showmanship of boxing and the celebration that it is as a sport — fans love that. It's a night out, and there's the surge of emotions they get watching a sport.
"But the reality of what could happen is very clear to us in this country. We've seen it.
"[Boxing] is toxic in this country, and that's thanks to Daniel Kinahan and his crew," Tallant said.
Breen agreed.
"The name Kinahan is toxic because you see it being mentioned in court in relation to a plot to murder a man, you see it being mentioned in the Kinahan-Hutch feud … that's not by me, or the media, that's the senior members of law enforcement who have used that term.
"The Kinahan organization is well-known across Europe. It's led to 18 people losing their lives," Breen told Insider.
"If Daniel Kinahan is associated with boxing, or a boxing event, then people are going to associate it with crime and what happened at the Regency, and the feud.
"The only way for [boxing] to improve its image is for Daniel Kinahan to take a back seat."
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