The Kinahan Bombshell, Boxing’s Latest Besmirchment, Has Deep Roots

Published

3 years ago

April 15, 2022

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On Tuesday of this week at a press conference in Dublin attended by representatives of multiple government agencies, the United States Treasury sanctioned Daniel Kinahan and several of his associates and put a bounty on their heads. A reward of “up to” $5 million was offered for an arrest and conviction “leading to the financial disruption” of their alleged international crime cartel. The KOCG (the acronym stands for the Kinahan Organized Crime Group) is accused of importing large quantities of cocaine from South America for distribution to countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Daniel Kinahan is an important man in the sport of prizefighting. Tyson Fury publicly thanked him for his role in brokering the fight between he and Anthony Joshua, potentially the richest fight of all time, albeit a fight that had to be put on the back burner because Fury had a pre-existing contractual obligation that his management could not sunder.

Some have called the news regarding Kinahan the biggest story in boxing this year. However, one wouldn’t have surmised that if one had tuned in to yesterday’s press conference for the forthcoming mega-fight between Fury and Dillian Whyte. The issue was never broached during the question-and-answer session with the media although co-promoters Frank Warren and Bob Arum, who joined the fighters on the Zoom call, put the lid on it, taking no questions from reporters likely to ask the Gypsy King for his take on the matter.

We here at The Sweet Science have been following the Kinahan saga since 2016. On February 5 of that year, gunfire erupted at Dublin’s Regency Hotel during the weigh-ins for a card (ultimately cancelled) to be held at Dublin’s National Stadium the following day. Intruders bearing assault rifles burst into the ballroom where the weigh-ins were happening, fatally shooting one man and seriously wounding two others. The decedent, a career criminal, was reputedly an associate of Irish drug lord Christy Kinahan, the father of Daniel Kinahan, and the murder was said to be in retaliation for the contract killing of a man in Marbella, Costa del Sol, Spain, the previous year. The victim in Marbella was a Dublin man affiliated with a rival gang.

The upscale resort city of Marbella, a quick hop by boat to Morocco, houses the largest concentration of drug traffickers in the world. It was here that the Kinahans opened the first of what has become an international chain of boxing gyms. The nominal owner was former British and European middleweight champion and three-time world title challenger Matthew Macklin and the gym took the name MGM, which stood for Macklin Gym Marbella (not to be confused with the unaffiliated MGM casino chain).

The gym subsequently changed its name to MTK Global and during its rapid expansion – there are now more than 20 MTK Global gyms on five continents — morphed into something more than a gym franchiser. It now bills itself as the world’s foremost boxing management company, negotiating contracts for the fighters under its umbrella and arranging endorsements and sponsorships for them.

In June of 2020, former ABC and ESPN boxing coordinator Bob Yalen joined the company in the role of CEO. Yalen, a Connecticut native who enters the International Boxing Hall of Fame this summer with the class of 2022, gave the company a veneer of respectability. He replaced Sandra Vaughan, a woman identified in the papers as the ex-partner of a convicted drug dealer named Kevin Kelly.

Four current world title-holders have ties to MTK Global: Tyson Fury, unified 140-pound champion Josh Taylor, WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood, and IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards. A number of U.S. boxers — e.g., Vergil Ortiz Jr, Jojo Diaz, and Arnold Barboza – are also MTK Global clients.

Last month Probellum, the company founded last year by former Swiss banker and former Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, staged shows on back-to-back nights at the Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai. Years from now, when the history of the Kinahans and MTK Global comes fully into focus, this will stand out as a momentous occasion.

There was only one world title fight – Sunny Edwards vs. Muhammad Waseem – but the cost of putting on the two-day affair required a backer or backers with very deep pockets. The travel expenses alone were enormous. There were 10 fights on each night, 20 fights in all, and the 40 competitors represented 20 countries: Argentina, Armenia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, England, France, Ghana, India, Ireland, Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Spain, Tanzania, Turkey, the United States, Uzbekistan, and the United Arab Emirates.

It was no coincidence that this big event was held in Dubai. The UAE has no extradition treaties with countries in the western hemisphere. Daniel Kinahan, his father, and Daniel’s brother Christy Kinahan Jr currently reside there.

World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman was an honored guest. Sulaiman wrote about his experiences in an article published on the WBC web site. Here’s an excerpt:

During Probellum fight night I also met Daniel Kinahan who is advisor and manager of boxers. A man who has been labeled as a person linked to criminal groups. I had a fascinating and insightful talk with him, confirmed by the testimonies of many boxers, who express their admiration and gratitude for the unconditional support he has given them, which has allowed them to significantly improve their lives.

I am nobody to judge any person, and that has been the policy plus ethos of our organization, to combat all types of discrimination and abuse of power, for any person or group.

Since the announcement of the sanctions, there has been a rush by boxing promoters to disassociate themselves from Daniel Kinahan.

“MTK Global will take every measure to ensure the company and those who deal with it are fully compliant with the US sanctions announced this week and take this matter very seriously,” said a formal statement from the desk of Bob Yalen in which it was asserted that MTK parted ways with Daniel Kinahan in February of 2017 (an assertion at odds with a report that MTK Global shares an address with Daniel Kinahan’s unit in the exclusive Jumeirah Bay Tower in Dubai).

Probellum issued this statement: “We have retained counsel in the US to ensure that we fully comply with all rules, regulations and requirements related to this matter…Any suggestions that Daniel Kinahan is a shareholder or owner of Probellum is false and defamatory.”

In a conversation with ESPN combat sports reporter Marc Raimondo, Top Rank honcho Bob Arum said, “I’m a law-abiding American citizen and I will adhere to those sanctions and not have any business relationship with (Daniel Kinahan). Period. End of story.” Arum would subsequently acknowledge that he paid Kinahan $4 million in consulting fees, $1 million for each of the four Tyson Fury fights in Las Vegas that Top Rank co-promoted, sending the money to a third party, a company registered in Dubai.

In his Kinahan story for ESPN, Kevin Iole noted that boxing in the U.S. has had a long history with organized crime, citing mid-20^th century hoodlums Frankie Carbo and Blinky Palermo as examples. We would have gone back further. Arnold Rothstein, best remembered as the alleged mastermind behind the 1919 World Series fix and as the inspiration for the Meyer Wolfsheim character in “The Great Gatsby,” reputedly owned a large piece of fabled lightweight champion Benny Leonard. After his death it came to be understood that Rothstein made more money from the illegal drug trade than he did from all of his gambling enterprises. Prohibition-era gangster Owney Madden was reportedly the head of the syndicate that maneuvered Primo Carnera into the world heavyweight title. Jimmy Cannon’s famous line that boxing is the red-light district of sports has held up in every generation.

An editorial writer for the British Morning Star says the Kinahan scandal “amplifies the case for an international governing body (to regulate the sport).” Don’t hold your breath.

Arne K. Lang’s latest book, titled “George Dixon, Terry McGovern and the Culture of Boxing in America, 1890-1910,” will shortly roll off the press. The book, published by McFarland, can be pre-ordered directly from the publisher (https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/clashof-the-little-giants) or via Amazon.

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Ringside at the Fontainebleau where Mikaela Mayer Won her Rematch with Sandy Ryan

Published

1 day ago

March 30, 2025

Arne K. Lang

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LAS VEGAS, NV — The first meeting between Mikaela Mayer and Sandy Ryan last September at Madison Square Garden was punctuated with drama before the first punch was thrown. When the smoke cleared, Mayer had become a world-title-holder in a second weight class, taking away Ryan’s WBO welterweight belt via a majority decision in a fan-friendly fight.

The rematch tonight at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas was another fan-friendly fight. There were furious exchanges in several rounds and the crowd awarded both gladiators a standing ovation at the finish.

Mayer dominated the first half of the fight and held on to win by a unanimous decision. But Sandy Ryan came on strong beginning in round seven, and although Mayer was the deserving winner, the scores favoring her (98-92 and 97-93 twice) fail to reflect the competitiveness of the match-up. This is the best rivalry in women’s boxing aside from Taylor-Serrano.

Mayer, 34, improved to 21-2 (5). Up next, she hopes, in a unification fight with Lauren Price who outclassed Natasha Jonas earlier this month and currently holds the other meaningful pieces of the 147-pound puzzle. Sandy Ryan, 31, the pride of Derby, England, falls to 7-3-1.

Co-Feature

In his first defense of his WBO world welterweight title (acquired with a brutal knockout of Giovani Santillan after the title was vacated by Terence Crawford), Atlanta’s Brian Norman Jr knocked out Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas in the third round. A three-punch combination climaxed by a short left hook sent Cuevas staggering into a corner post. He got to his feet before referee Thomas Taylor started the count, but Taylor looked in Cuevas’s eyes and didn’t like what he saw and brought the bout to a halt.

The stoppage, which struck some as premature, came with one second remaining in the third stanza.

A second-generation prizefighter (his father was a fringe contender at super middleweight), the 24-year-old Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is currently boxing’s youngest male title-holder. It was only the second pro loss for Cuevas (27-2-1) whose lone previous defeat had come early in his career in a 6-rounder he lost by split decision.

Other Bouts

In a career-best performance, 27-year-old Brooklyn featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) blasted out Jose Enrique Vivas (23-4) in the third round.

Carrington, who was named the Most Outstanding Boxer at the 2019 U.S. Olympic Trials despite being the lowest-seeded boxer in his weight class, decked Vivas with a right-left combination near the end of the second round. Vivas barely survived the round and was on a short leash when the third stanza began. After 53 seconds of round three, referee Raul Caiz Jr had seen enough and waived it off. Vivas hadn’t previously been stopped.

Cleveland welterweight Tiger Johnson, a Tokyo Olympian, scored a fifth-round stoppage over San Antonio’s Kendo Castaneda. Johnson assumed control in the fourth round and sent Castaneda to his knees twice with body punches in the next frame. The second knockdown terminated the match. The official time was 2:00 of round five.

Johnson advanced to 15-0 (7 KOs). Castenada declined to 21-9.

Las Vegas junior welterweight Emiliano Vargas (13-0, 11 KOs) blasted out Stockton, California’s Giovanni Gonzalez in the second round. Vargas brought the bout to a sudden conclusion with a sweeping left hook that knocked Gonzalez out cold. The end came at the 2:00 minute mark of round two.

Gonzalez brought a 20-7-2 record which was misleading as 18 of his fights were in Tijuana where fights are frequently prearranged. However, he wasn’t afraid to trade with Vargas and paid the price.

Emiliano Vargas, with his matinee idol good looks and his boxing pedigree – he is the son of former U.S. Olympian and two-weight world title-holder “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas – is highly marketable and has the potential to be a cross-over star.

Eighteen-year-old Newark bantamweight Emmanuel “Manny” Chance, one of Top Rank’s newest signees, won his pro debut with a four-round decision over So Cal’s Miguel Guzman. Chance won all four rounds on all three cards, but this was no runaway. He left a lot of room for improvement.

There was a long intermission before the co-main and again before the main event, but the tedium was assuaged by a moving video tribute to George Foreman.

Photos credit: Al Applerose

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William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

Published

1 day ago

March 29, 2025

David A. Avila

William Zepeda Edges Past Tevin Farmer in Cancun; Improves to 34-0

No surprise, once again William Zepeda eked out a win over the clever and resilient Tevin Farmer to remain undefeated and retain a regional lightweight title on Saturday.

There were no knockdowns in this rematch.

The Mexican punching machine Zepeda (33-0, 17 KOs) once more sought to overwhelm Farmer (33-8-1, 9 KOs) with a deluge of blows. This rematch by Golden Boy Promotions took place in the famous beach resort area of Cancun, Mexico.

It was a mere four months ago that both first clashed in Saudi Arabia with their vastly difference styles. This time the tropical setting served as the background which suited Zepeda and his lawnmower assaults. The Mexican fans were pleased.

Nothing changed in their second meeting.

Zepeda revved up the body assault and Farmer moved around casually to his right while fending off the Mexican fighter’s attacks. By the fourth round Zepeda was able to cut off Farmer’s escape routes and targeted the body with punishing shots.

The blows came in bunches.

In the fifth round Zepeda blasted away at Farmer who looked frantic for an escape. The body assault continued with the Mexican fighter pouring it on and Farmer seeming to look ready to quit. When the round ended, he waved off his corner’s appeals to stop.

Zepeda continued to dominate the next few rounds and then Farmer began rallying. At first, he cleverly smothered Zepeda’s body attacks and then began moving and hitting sporadically. It forced the Mexican fighter to pause and figure out the strategy.

Farmer, a Philadelphia fighter, showed resiliency especially when it was revealed he had suffered a hand injury.

During the last three rounds Farmer dug down deep and found ways to score and not get hit. It was Boxing 101 and the Philly fighter made it work.

But too many rounds had been put in the bank by Zepeda. Despite the late rally by Farmer one judge saw it 114-114, but two others scored it 116-112 and 115-113 for Zepeda who retains his interim lightweight title and place at the top of the WBC rankings.

“I knew he was a difficult fighter. This time he was even more difficult,” said Zepeda.

Farmer was downtrodden about another loss but realistic about the outcome and starting slow.

“But I dominated the last rounds,” said Farmer.

Zepeda shrugged at the similar outcome as their first encounter.

“I’m glad we both put on a great show,” said Zepeda.

Female Flyweight Battle

Costa Rica’s Yokasta Valle edged past Texas fighter Marlen Esparza to win their showdown at flyweight by split decision after 10 rounds.

Valle moved up two weight divisions to meet Esparza who was slightly above the weight limit. Both showed off their contrasting styles and world class talent.

Esparza, a former unified flyweight world titlist, stayed in the pocket and was largely successful with well-placed jabs and left hooks. She repeatedly caught Valle in-between her flurries.

The current minimumweight world titlist changed tactics and found more success in the second half of the fight. She forced Esparza to make the first moves and that forced changes that benefited her style.

Neither fighter could take over the fight.

After 10 rounds one judge saw Esparza the winner 96-94, but two others saw Valle the winner 97-93 twice.

Will Valle move up and challenge the current undisputed flyweight world champion Gabriela Fundora? That’s the question.

Valle currently holds the WBC minimumweight world title.

Puerto Rico vs Mexico

Oscar Collazo (12-0, 9 KOs), the WBO, WBA minimumweight titlist, knocked out Mexico’s Edwin Cano (13-3-1, 4 KOs) with a flurry of body shots at 1:12 of the fifth round.

Collazo dominated with a relentless body attack the Mexican fighter could not defend. It was the Puerto Rican fighter’s fifth consecutive title defense.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 319: Rematches in Las Vegas, Cancun and More

Published

3 days ago

March 28, 2025

David A. Avila

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Rematches are the bedrock for prizefighting.

Return battles between rival boxers always means their first encounter was riveting and successful at the box office.

Six months after their first brutal battle Mikaela Mayer (20-2, 5 KOs) and Sandy Ryan (7-2-1, 3 KOs) will slug it out again for the WBO welterweight world title this time on Saturday, March 29, at the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas.

ESPN will show the Top Rank card live.

“It’s important for women’s boxing to have these rivalries and this is definitely up there as one of the top ones,” Mayer told the BBC.

If you follow Mayer’s career you know that somehow drama follows. Whether its back-and-forth beefs with fellow American fighters or controversial judging due to nationalism in countries abroad. The Southern California native who now trains in Las Vegas knows how to create the drama.

For female fighters self-promotion is a necessity.

Most boxing promoters refuse to step out of the usual process set for male boxers, not for female boxers. Things remain the same and have been for the last 70 years. Social media has brought changes but that has made promoters do even less.

No longer are there press conferences, instead announcements are made on social media to be drowned among the billions of other posts. It is not killing but diluting interest in the sport.

Women innately present a different advantage that few if any promoters are recognizing. So far in the past 25 years I have only seen two or three promoters actually ignite interest in female fighters. They saw the advantages and properly boosted interest in the women.

The fight breakdown

Mayer has won world titles in the super featherweight and now the welterweight division. Those are two vastly different weight classes and prove her fighting abilities are based on skill not power or size.

Coaching Mayer since amateurs remains Al Mitchell and now Kofi Jantuah who replaced Kay Koroma the current trainer for Sandy Ryan.

That was the reason drama ignited during their first battle. Then came someone tossing paint at Ryan the day of their first fight.

More drama.

During their first fight both battled to control the initiative with Mayer out-punching the British fighter by a slender margin. It was a back-and-forth struggle with each absorbing blows and retaliating immediately.

New York City got its money’s worth.

Ryan had risen to the elite level rapidly since losing to Erica Farias three years ago. Though she was physically bigger and younger, she was out-maneuvered and defeated by the wily veteran from Argentina. In the rematch, however, Ryan made adjustments and won convincingly.

Can she make adjustments from her defeat to Mayer?

“I wanted the rematch straight away,” said Ryan on social media. “I’ve come to America again.”

Both fighters have size and reach. In their first clash it was evident that conditioning was not a concern as blows were fired nonstop in bunches. Mayer had the number of punches landed advantage and it unfolded with the judges giving her a majority decision win.

That was six months ago. Can she repeat the outcome?

Mayer has always had boiler-oven intensity. It’s not fake. Since her amateur days the slender Southern California blonde changes disposition all the way to red when lacing up the gloves. It’s something that can’t be taught.

Can she draw enough of that fire out again?

“I didn’t have to give her this rematch. I could have just sat it out, waited for Lauren Price to unify and fought for undisputed or faced someone else,” said Mayer to BBC. “That’s not the fighter I am though.”

Co-Main in Las Vegas

The co-main event pits Brian Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs) facing Puerto Rico’s Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) in a contest for the WBO welterweight title.

Norman, 24, was last seen a year ago dissecting a very good welterweight in Giovani Santillan for a knockout win in San Diego. He showed speed, skill and power in defeating Santillan in his hometown.

Cuevas has beaten some solid veteran talent but this will be his big test against Norman and his first attempt at winning a world title.

Also on the Top Rank card will be Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and Emiliano Vargas, the son of Fernando Vargas, in separate bouts.

Golden Boy in Cancun

A rematch between undefeated William “Camaron” Zepeda (32-0, 27 KOs) and ex-champ Tevin Farmer (33-7-1, 8 KOs) headlines the lightweight match on Saturday March 29, at Cancun, Mexico.

In their first encounter Zepeda was knocked down in the fourth round but rallied to win a split-decision over Farmer. It showed the flaws in Zepeda’s tornado style.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also includes a clash between Yokasta Valle the WBC minimumweight world titlist who is moving up to flyweight to face former flyweight champion Marlen Esparza.

Both Valle and Esparza have fast hands.

Valle is excellent darting in and out while Esparza has learned how to fight inside. It’s a toss-up fight.

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 12 p.m. Cameron Vuong (7-0) vs Jordan Flynn (11-0-1); Pat Brown (0-0) vs Federico Grandone (7-4-2).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. William Zepeda (32-0) vs Tevin Farmer (33-7-1); Yokasta Valle (32-3) vs Marlen Esparza (15-2).

Sat. ESPN 7 p.m. Mikaela Mayer (20-2) vs Sandy Ryan (7-2-1); Brian Norman Jr. (26-0) vs Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1).

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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