K.O. FOR BOXING

Notorious for years as a ruthless global gang boss, why is Daniel Kinahan suddenly being feted by lords of the ring... who tarnish themselves and their sport?

HE is banned from the US as a ‘narco-terrorist’, accused in Spain of ordering murder, and judged by the High Court here to be the boss of the sinister Kinahan gang that deals in international drugs and guns – yet life for mob boss Daniel Kinahan has been peachy of late.

For some, the 42-year-old Dubliner has done an impressive job of reinventing himself as a successful boxing promoter and entrepreneur, from the comfort of his self-imposed exile in Dubai.

Senior detectives investigating the leader of the Kinahan international crime gang grudgingly admit that Daniel has ‘played a blinder’ in legitimising himself.

‘He’s no idiot. He’s very smart and he’s very rich. Daniel knows his boxing and he’s wellconnected in that world,’ explained a senior source. ‘He’s intelligent enough to know he needs legitimate business interests to hold on to his fortune. Boxing suits perfectly and he’s passionate about it.’

Which may be true, but his links to it are destroying boxing in Ireland, with parents dreading the notion of involving their children in anything associated with him.

But Daniel Kinahan right now is at the top of his game on the world stage of international boxing. He invokes adulation within the boxing fraternity where many are either uninformed about his criminal links or simply choose to turn a blind eye. At the opposite end of the spectrum are law enforcement agencies worldwide which have outlined in detail just how powerful a crime boss Daniel Kinahan is.

In 2018, a High Court ruling here said that Daniel controlled the Kinahan organised crime gang, which was involved in smuggling drugs and weapons on a global scale. A month earlier, a Spanish police officer told a court in Marbella that he had ordered the murder of gang rival Gary Hutch on the Costa Del Sol in 2015.

And just last month, a garda told the Special Criminal Court that the Kinahan gang was a sophisticated organisation which had ordered the murder of Patrick Hutch. Judges there accepted Garda evidence that large sums of money were made available to murder people, and that those involved in the Kinahan cartel were paid €20,000 for ‘setting people up for a hit’. The court accepted Garda evidence that the Kinahan crime gang is involved in ‘execution-type murders’ to protect its core activities, which include organised drugs and firearms offences on ‘an international scale’.

In addition, Daniel Kinahan has officially been banned from the United States after being placed on a list of narco-terrorists.

And while the Dubliner is long established in the world of boxing, the plaudits he has won finally began to backfire this week – thanks to two-time heavyweight champ Tyson Fury.

Fury uploaded a video to his Instagram account on Wednesday afternoon in which he announced a two-fight deal between himself and unified world title holder Anthony Joshua.

‘I’m just after getting off the phone with Daniel Kinahan,’ he told his followers, adding: ‘He’s just informed me that the biggest fight in British boxing history has just been agreed.’

Fury also gives a ‘big shout out to Dan’ who he says, ‘literally got this done’. This ringing endorsement by one of world’s most famous boxing personalities raised eyebrows among the authorities here, where the cartel’s drug-dealing and murders are regularly exposed in the media.

However, Fury’s firm backing of the Dubliner was not a flash-inthe-pan. It followed a series of moves by Daniel to whitewash his reputation.

Only last month, he was hired as the special advisor to a Middle Eastern sports company backed by the Bahraini royal family. The group, KHK Sport, was founded in 2015 by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the fifth son of Bahraini ruler King Hamad and the president of the Bahrain Olympic Committee.

Boxing has been a passion and a way of life for Daniel since his youth, growing up in the Oliver Bond flats complex in Dublin’s south inner city.

Indeed, a defining moment in his life was the gun attack at a boxing weigh-in at Dublin’s Regency Hotel, on February 5, 2016, where he was the prime target. The attack attracted worldwide media coverage and claimed the life of one of his most trusted henchmen, David Byrne, a high-ranking associate of the Kinahan cartel.

It was a pivotal moment in the ongoing Hutch-Kinahan feud, as Hutch associates, disguised as gardaí, burst into the hotel on Dublin’s northside and opened fire.

This led to a spate of retaliation killings by the Kinahan gang, who have been responsible for the vast majority of 18 murders to date in the feud with the gang led by Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch.

Last month, a short film was circulated on YouTube and social media purporting to tell the ‘true story’ of the murder of David Byrne. It casts Daniel as a victim who was thrown to the wolves and makes no mention of his involvement in criminality, outlined in various courts. In reality, the 15minute documentary was just another part of a well-executed plan to ‘re-brand’ Daniel Kinahan to the wider world.

The expensively made documentary is packed with conspiracy theories and blatant inaccuracies, and it makes entirely false and

Gang involved in ‘execution style murders’