Boxing simply cannot jab and feint its way out of Daniel Kinahan problem
When the US government document landed, in the early hours of Tuesday morning Dubai time, it must have felt like a haymaker exploding on Daniel Kinahan’s chin.
Across 1,400 taut words it revealed all the addresses, the numbers of fake passports IDs, and the alleged crimes and misdemeanours of one of the most powerful men in boxing.
Then, on Tuesday morning, came another spiralling blow, with the US Department of State placing a $5m bounty on his head. Speaking in Dublin, the US ambassador to Ireland, Claire Cronin, said the reward would be provided for “information leading to the financial disruption of the Kinahans, or the arrest or conviction” of Daniel Kinahan, his father, Christopher Sr, and brother, Christopher Jr.
Tackling the Kinahans “is an urgent priority for President Biden and the US government” she said.
For someone used to operating in the shadows, after fleeing Ireland for the United Arab Emirates, it must have come as a hell of a blunt shock.
But Kinahan’s unease should also have been mirrored by many in boxing. For years they welcomed and accommodated him as he sportswashed his reputation by establishing himself as a key figure within the sport.
Yet there was always a strange duality here. With every passing year, the criminal allegations against Kinahan mounted – as far back as 2018 he was named in the Dublin high court as the head of a £1bn drugs and weapon smuggling cartel. And yet, at the same time, his power and influence in boxing only grew.
He became a friend and adviser to Tyson Fury. A man people did business with. Perhaps promoters and broadcasters told themselves they had no choice given the huge stable of fighters in the MTK Global Agency that he cofounded.
Perhaps Kinahan’s lack of criminal convictions – and denials of any wrongdoing – also made them think th ey had cover. But people such as the WBC president, Mauricio Sulaimán, who recently praised Kinahan for “improving boxers’ lives in a special way”, have no such excuses.
Of course the sport was aware of Kinahan’s reputation. Boxers are not naive. However they appreciated the fact that he was generous, straight, and looked after fighters – which is often a rarity in the sport and made them ignore all the other stuff.
But not even boxing will be able to jab and feint its way out facing some hard truths now. Not when the US government states bluntly that the “Kinahan Organised Crime Group smuggles deadly narcotics, including cocaine, to Europe, and is a threat to the entire licit economy through its role in international money laundering”.
In a statement the US also noted: “Criminal groups like the KOCG prey on the most vulnerable in society and bring drug-related crime and violence, including murder, to the countries in which they operate.”
For good measure, Kinahan is named directly too – as someone “who sources large quantities of cocaine from
South America, plays an integral part in organizing the supply of drugs in Ireland, and is attempting to facilitate the importation of cocaine into the United Kingdom. Daniel Kinahan is known to have used false identity documents”.
Sanctions are now in place which bar US banks and companies from doing business with Kinahan and his associates. As Gregory Gatjanis, a senior US official, put it: “Today, the Kinihans join the ranks of the Camorra and Japan’s yakuza.”
Speaking at a press conference, the Garda Síochána commissioner, Drew Harris, issued a direct warning to those in sport who have ties to Kinahan.
“In respect of individuals, and very prominent sporting individuals, who are obviously in some way connected with this grouping. I would say you need to look to your sport, you need to look to your fans and you need to think of your own reputation, because this is a very serious announcement,” he said.
Kinahan, he said, “couldn’t “hide from justice forever”.
A similar message was conveyed by the assistant commissioner, John O’Driscoll, who condemned Kinahan’s standing in the sport, saying that his influence was “destroying or attempting to destroy a sport that is so important to inner-city communities”.
It is a warning that has been issued multiple times before. Perhaps this time boxing will finally listen. Then again, this is boxing.