Daniel Kinahan, the co-founder of MTK and advisor to Tyson Fury and Darren Till, is wanted by the US government.
Last week the US government sanctioned Daniel Kinahan and named him as one of the leaders of the Kinahan Organized Crime Group. In addition to banning US individuals and companies from having any dealings with Kinahan, the US also put up a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
Irish national Kinahan has been living in Dubai ever since he narrowly avoided an assassination attempt at a boxing weigh-in show at Dublin’s Regency Hotel in 2016. According to BBC, the United Arab Emirates have now frozen Kinahan’s assets along with other accounts believed to be associated with the KOCG.
The sanctioning of Kinahan has sent shock waves through the world of combat sports. For years Kinahan has been suspected of pulling the strings behind MTK Global; a company he founded and has since risen to become one of the biggest power brokers in world boxing.
MTK, which manages Tyson Fury, Darren Till, Billy Joe Saunders, Aleksandar Rakic and a slew of other top boxers and MMA fighters, has long claimed that Kinahan stopped working with the company since 2017. However, in 2020 Fury revealed that Kinahan had negotiated his deal to fight Anthony Joshua. Top Rank’s Bob Arum and Eddie Hearn later revealed they had dealt with Kinahan over a number of Fury’s past fights.
This week MTK announced it would cease operations due to the scrutiny they have faced since Kinahan’s sanctioning.
Probellum, a boxing and MMA promotion, that is closely associated with MTK announced that the company would abide by the US sanctions and continue to do business.
The KOCG is believed to be responsible for most of the narcotics smuggling into Ireland. The organization is also believed to operate in the UK, mainland Europe, South America and Oceania.
The organization is also believed to be embroiled in a deadly gang war with an entity known as The Hutch Gang. Since 2015 at least 18 people have been killed in the Hutch-Kinahan feud. The bloodshed started when Gary Hutch was executed by suspected Kinahan associates.
Hutch was the nephew of alleged Hutch Gang leader Gerry Hutch. Authorities believe that after Gerry Hutch refused to attend a peace summit with suspected KOCG founder Christy Kinahan (Daniel Kinahan’s father), the KOCG tried to assassinate him in bar in Lanzarote, Spain.
Authorities further believe that the Regency Hotel Shooting, which resulted in the death of suspected Kinahan associate David Byrne, was orchestrated by Hutch as a revenge attack on the Kinahans. Hutch is currently awaiting trial for murder in connection to that shooting.
A number of Hutch family members have been gunned down in Ireland since that attack.
In their statement regarding the sanctions against Kinahan, the US government alleged that Kinahan has sent money to men convicted of killing on behalf of the KOCG.
Tyson Fury, who was pictured with Kinahan in February, is fighting Dillian Whyte this weekend. In the lead-up to the bout, Fury was pressed on his association with Kinahan—a man he has not been shy about praising in the past.
During a bizarre interview with Sky Sports Fury claimed what is happening with Kinahan is neither his “business” nor “concern”.