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Ciara Phelan & John Hand & Gavin Quinn

Pretence that Daniel Kinahan has no involvement in top-level boxing 'shattered', says Dublin TD


Shameless Daniel Kinahan has emerged from his Dubai bolthole to pose for snaps with world heavyweight champ Tyson Fury.

The feared mob boss – who runs a global drugs and arms cartel worth €1 billion – posed for pictures alongside Fury, boxer and fans as they attended a roof-top gym.

In a video posted on social media, Kinahan is seen beaming on the rooftop of the Shatha Tower in Dubai as a poem was read out in honour of the “Gypsy King” Fury.

As the man finishes speaking, Kinahan - wearing sunglasses, a white T-shirt, blue jeans and white runners - leads the applause and roar for Fury.

But last night, Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond slammed the stars in boxing for endorsing the 44-year-old Dubliner’s role in the game as a so-called “advisor”.

He told the Irish Mirror: “Once again, the pretence that arch mobster Daniel Kinahan has no involvement in top-level boxing has been shattered by his own damning actions.

“He should not be allowed to 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.

“Every time Tyson Fury is pictured with Kinahan they are showing utter contempt for the Irish courts and more importantly the victims of the Kinahan cartel.

“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.

“We need to see promoters, fighters, commercial partners and most importantly the TV companies take a stand and stop this blatant sportwashing.”

In 2020, two-time world champ Fury hailed Kinahan for getting his fight deal against Anthony Joshua “over the line.”

But amid fury and backlash, Kinahan supposedly “stepped away” from those multi-million euro negotiations.

And while that deal did crumble, he has continued to act for Fury in an advisory capacity, as he has done for many other fighters.

Just months earlier, Kinahan’s role at the very top level of boxing emerged when boxing hall of famer and promoter Bob Arum revealed he was working with him.

Kinahan founded MTK, originally MGM, in 2012 alongside former pro boxer Matthew Macklin, who has no involvement in crime.

In 2017 the management firm claimed Kinahan stepped away.

But they then later admitted he remains advising a number of their fighters and has advised them to sign boxers, including Fury.

Kinahan bolted from Spain to Dubai in 2017 following the outbreak of violence between the cartel and the Hutch crime gang in Ireland.

The year before, he was said to be the target of the Regency Hotel gun attack in Dublin in which his close associate David Byrne was shot dead. Two men are before the courts charged with his murder.

In response, gardai believe Kinahan orchestrated his cartel’s onslaught against the Hutch gang. The feud claimed 16 lives overall.

Gardai are continuing to work on bringing Kinahan to justice and as part of their investigations, they have travelled to the UAE to liaise with local police.

He was named in the High Court in 2018 as running the day-to-day operations of the Kinahan organised crime group.

The Special Criminal Court last year further established that the Kinahan mob carries out “execution-style” murders and trafficks drugs and arms on a global scale.

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