Daniel Kinahan has confirmed to talkSPORT he remains heavily involved in boxing and is organising some of the biggest fights in the sport.
Kinahan – accused of being the leader of a global crime gang – co-founded leading management company MTK Global, which counts Tyson Fury among its stable of star-name fighters.
He was said to have stepped away from the sport last year after a public outcry when it emerged he had helped Fury broker a two-fight deal to face Anthony Joshua in 2021.
However, despite MTK initially distancing themselves from Kinahan, a recent BBC Panorama investigation found he was still prominent within boxing and involved in putting together some of sport’s biggest fights.
Kinahan has now confirmed that to be the case in an exclusive statement to talkSPORT, in which he maintained his innocence over links to crime and claimed he was the victim of an orchestrated campaign.
“I have dedicated myself to my work in boxing for over 15 years,” he said.
“I have started from the bottom and worked my way up. I am proud to say today that I have helped organise over a dozen major world title fights. I continue to be involved in planning multiple record-breaking and exciting world title fights: I’m doing all I can to give fight fans around the world the fights they want. My professional commitment is always to the boxers, those who take the ultimate risk.
“Boxing is a working class sport for which I’ve had a lifelong love and passion. I love the sport of boxing but didn’t love how business was done. Many boxers have similar backgrounds to me. I got into boxing to make sure that boxers get fairly rewarded and not taken advantage of.
“The boxers put their lives on the line. It’s my mission to ensure that the boxers are financially secure when they finish boxing, and healthy too. Let’s not forget – the money in boxing is put there one way or another by the fans, sponsors and TV companies – not by me or anyone else – and they put it there to watch the fighters. The fighters deserve their fair share.
“I’m blessed with an amazing family. I’m blessed to work in boxing at the highest level having organised some of the biggest fights in boxing previously and in the future.
“I will continue working every day to bring out the best in, and look after, the boxers I am lucky enough to work with.”
