British boxing star Tyson Fury has split with his controversial advisor Daniel Kinahan, an Irishman linked to organised crime including drugs and firearms trafficking.
Fury, the WBC heavyweight champion, was criticised for thanking Kinahan for getting a two-fight deal with British rival Anthony Joshua “over the line” earlier in June.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar expressed “outrage” and called for a sport and media boycott while other Irish politicians said Kinahan should not be involved in the biggest and richest boxing fight in British history.
Kinahan has no criminal convictions, though The Telegraph reported that in May Dublin’s Special Criminal Court accepted evidence the gang allegedly run by Kinahan was involved in serious offending, including “execution-type murders”, as well as drugs and firearm trafficking on an international scale.
The 42-year-old has been a key figure in encouraging and advising Fury’s remarkable comeback from depression to regain a world title and there has been increased focus on him since the Fury-Joshua deal was announced.
“Over the weekend I’ve had a lot of conversations with Tyson Fury and what we both decided is that myself, Top Rank and Fury will do all negotiations for fights in the future. Whether it’s for Joshua or Wilder or anybody else. We’ve informed Eddie Hearn about that. He knows where to go for the negotiations. Tyson and I have had long negotiations about it. That’s the way it’s going to be,” Arum said.
“This will eliminate a lot of confusion.
“We’ve talked with Dan, who Tyson and I both love and admire and respect, and he understands that it’s best the negotiations on Tyson’s side be handled that way.
“Both Tyson and I have each discussed this with Dan and he is amenable and satisfied and wished us luck. He only wants the best for Tyson Fury. Eddie [Hearn] has been informed of that.”
