Cartel chief and closest associates are saying nothing, but speculation is rife that gangster is on way back
An international boxing showcase is due to take place within months, and speculation is rife that the leader of the Kinahan organised crime group is financially involved, unbeknown to the organisers. The details of the event cannot be published for legal reasons.
The organiser has denied Kinahan, or an associate of his, are involved, saying: “Neither of the two names mentioned have any involvement in my event or any previous ones… I work with everyone in the city as it’s a real community here around the sport, but never an involvement with either of them.”
Sources in boxing circles say the gang boss is using a “conduit”, and everyone linked to the event, including fighters, management and promoters, is “completely in the dark” about Kinahan’s shadowy involvement.
Daniel Kinahan is believed to be trying to get back into promoting big-time boxing events
News in 90 Seconds – Monday, November 10th
A source in the sport said Kinahan remains “boxing-obsessed” and is always seeking opportunities to play a part after his attempts to reinvent himself as a power broker came to an abrupt end in 2020.
An Instagram post from heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in the summer of that year saw Kinahan’s attempts to legitimise himself unravel as he came under renewed scrutiny in Dubai and Ireland.
Being endorsed by one of the world’s most high-profile boxing figures caused shockwaves at the time.
Within a couple of weeks of Fury praising him, the boxer quietly dropped Kinahan as his negotiator after an outcry in Ireland. Fury’s “shout out” was brought up by then taoiseach Leo Varadkar and diplomatic contact with the United Arab Emirates regarding the self-exiled leader of the cartel followed.
Kinahan was essentially whitewashed from the world of professional boxing, which left him “simultaneously seething and devastated”, a security source said. “He has a genuine love for the sport.”
Since 2020, the 48-year-old has been under sustained scrutiny from gardaí and international police forces, including in the US, which has placed a $5m (€4.3m) bounty on his head.
In Ireland, the DPP continues to consider an extensive file on his alleged criminal activity, which gardaí hope will result in him being extradited to Ireland to face charges.
In recent weeks, Kinahan’s childhood friend and former boxing business partner Anthony Fitzpatrick has been publicly linked to professional English boxer Brad Casey and British promoter Frank Warren.
Casey, who won his second professional fight on November 1 in Manchester, featured last week in a photo with Fitzpatrick as part of his “team” on an Instagram post. They also appear together in other photos on the boxer’s social media. Casey has no links to criminality whatsoever.
In a photo of the pair together after the November 1 fight on his own Instagram account, Fitzpatrick praised Casey for his win, saying he looked “powerful and composed”. Fitzpatrick also thanked Warren for “the opportunity”.
Warren was contacted for comment to ask if he has a business relationship with Fitzpatrick. There is no suggestion Warren has any links to any form of criminality.
Dubliner Fitzpatrick was named in the High Court in October 2022 as a “close associate of Daniel Kinahan”.
Tyson Fury with Daniel Kinahan
When the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) raided a house in Saggart, Dublin, owned by Kinahan in 2019, gardaí found Fitzpatrick and his family living there rent-free. At the time, he had effectively been running MTK Global, the boxing promotion firm founded by Kinahan.
The High Court heard Fitzpatrick was a founder of MGM Marbella, later rebranded as MTK Global, in 2011, along with Kinahan, Matthew Macklin and Seamus Macklin.
Fitzpatrick was one of 34 people arrested in Spain, Ireland and the UK in 2010 as part of Operation Shovel and was photographed being taken to court in Estepona by armed police.
He does not have a criminal record, but he was considered “Daniel Kinahan’s man” in boxing circles, given that the pair co-founded MGM Marbella.
Efforts to contact Fitzpatrick to ask if some of his recent business dealings in professional boxing are solo initiatives or if Kinahan is also involved were unsuccessful.
Security sources, as well as others in boxing and yet others in the criminal underworld, all agree there is “no doubt” that Kinahan is again involved in the sport.
“Daniel is not once-bitten, twice-shy after the disaster for him accidentally sparked by Tyson Fury’s tweet,” a source said. “He can’t seem to help himself when it comes to the business side of boxing, he has to be involved.
“This time around, he’s trying to do it quietly, to stay in the background out of sight. But in typical Daniel Kinahan fashion, he always wants to be pulling the strings. It’s always about power for the leader of the cartel.”