Irish PM warns broadcasters over Joshua-Fury fight

A heavyweight bout between British boxers Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury should not be televised if an alleged gangland figure is involved, Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar said.

WBA, IBF and WBO belt holder Joshua and Fury – who holds the WBC belt – have reached an in-principle two-fight deal to determine the undisputed heavyweight champion in 2021.

But Varadkar said the apparent involvement of Irish citizen Daniel Kinahan in brokering the fight meant broadcasters should step back from airing the contest.

Kinahan was described in parliament on Thursday as “a very senior figure in organised crime on a global scale”.

“I think it would be entirely appropriate for sporting organisations and media organisations to have nothing to do with this,” he said.

“I wouldn’t like to see them giving it any attention at all given the circumstances.”

He added: “Maybe they don’t know the facts ... but they need to know them.”

Fury on Wednesday thanked Kinahan, who is understood to currently live in Dubai, for getting the deal “over the line”.

“He’s just informed me that the biggest fight in British boxing history has just been agreed,” Fury announced in a video message on his social media channels.

Mentioning Kinahan multiple times, he said: “Big shout out Dan – he got this done.”

But the Dail – Ireland’s lower house of parliament – heard on Thursday that Kinahan has links to serious organised crime.

Lawmaker Alan Kelly said the country’s High Court had identified Kinahan as “a very senior figure in organised crime on a global scale”.

The Criminal Assets Bureau had also said he had “controlled and managed” an organised crime group for “some time”, he added.

Varadkar has said Ireland’s foreign ministry has been in touch with officials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over Kinahan’s involvement in the lucrative deal.

“The authorities in the UAE know the situation, and they know our concerns, and our problems with it,” he said on Friday.