Earlier this week, the biggest boxing story of the year was released when the US Treasury Department announced that it had imposed harsh sanctions on Daniel Kinahan, one of the most powerful men in the sport, who has served as a confidant and advisor to Fury and many others. top fighters in Britain and the United States. The US government has also warned all fighters and supporters who have worked with Kinahan to sever ties with him over the alleged leadership of the criminal cartel. However, in a Zoom call attended by up to a hundred journalists, not a single question was asked of Fury, or his supporters, Bob Arum and Frank Warren, about the damage done to the already abused boxing reputation. Those reporters who were asked to offer their questions to Fury chose to focus solely on routine questions about the World Cup crowd and exuberant mood as he prepares to defend his titles against Whyte in front of a crowd of 94,000 a week in Saturday. Journalists working outside the local boxing media, meanwhile, who felt itchy to ask Fury how he felt about the sanctions imposed on Kinahan were disappointed. All the media was silent until the call and so there was no way to break the boxing silence when it comes to discussing Kinahan’s deeply disturbing influence. Based in Dubai and exiled from his homeland of Ireland, where he and his family face multiple charges of criminal activity, Kinahan has been a source of great support to many boxers. Everyone swears by his faith and generosity towards them. Last year, Fury took to social media to praise Kinahan for his crucial role in organizing an extremely lucrative showdown between him and Anthony Joshua. This fight failed to take place after an American judge ruled that Fury was contractually bound to meet Doday Wilder first. Since then, Kinahan’s boxing power base has expanded significantly, and two closely related companies, MTK and Probellum, have expanded. Kinahan, who has no criminal convictions, has always denied any wrongdoing. Last month it looked like he had taken another huge step forward in his coordinated campaign to clean up his reputation. Mauricio Sulaiman, head of the World Boxing Council, lamented that Kinahan was “a character who has been linked to criminal gangs, creating prejudice against much of the global boxing community.” . Sulaiman strongly defended Kinahan and stressed that “he will have our full support in his efforts to bring benefits to boxing.” However, this week in Dublin, in a very different kind of press conference, the US government offered a reward of $ 5 million for information leading to financial disturbance or the arrest or conviction of Kinahan, his father, his brother and four of the partners. Gregory Gatjanis, deputy director of the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the Kinahan cartel would now be given priority by U.S. law enforcement in the same way that it pursued the Italian Camorra, the Japanese Yakuza mafia and the Russian Izmaylovskaya. Quick guide
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Thank you for your response. On Thursday afternoon, in the silent and sunny world of Zoom, it was as if this story had never happened. Fury is an extremely intelligent world champion who has done important work in developing a broader understanding of mental health. He is confident and smart enough to deal with almost any media query. It would be exciting to hear Fury think about this week’s seismic events – both Kinahan and boxing. On the contrary, hot air and silence prevailed. A prominent news and investigation reporter working outside the box office has been waiting for an hour to ask a question. Like so many, his opportunity never came and so he just wrote an exact word to the rest of us on the phone: “Embarrassing.”
