Boxing legend Barry McGuigan has branded Daniel Kinahan’s grip on the sport he loves as a “black mark”.
The former world featherweight champion turned promoter described court rulings on the activities of the Kinahan Cartel as a “horror show”.
This year it was revealed the man named in a Spanish court as ordering the feud murder of Gary Hutch was a valued advisor to MTK, giving guidance on which boxers to sign.
Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury also disclosed how Kinahan had brokered one of the most lucrative bouts in British boxing history between himself and Anthony Joshua.
A backlash went all the way to the Dail where then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he had contacted authorities in Kinahan’s adopted home of Dubai about his activities.
Dublin Live has learned that has delivered no response from the United Arab Emirates.
But the cartel chief was forced to publicly step away from the sport.
McGuigan, who took the world title off legendary Panamanian Eusebio Pedroza in 1985, doesn’t believe he is gone for good and described his influence as “very worrying”.
The 59-year-old told Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper he was not afraid of speaking out against the feared crime boss.
He added: “I don’t give two hoots about Daniel Kinahan. I don’t care about this guy.”
The Criminal Assets Bureau has described Kinahan’s links to the crime empire that bears his name and courts have heard it is engaged in drug dealing, arms smuggling and murders.
McGuigan, whose life has been touched repeatedly with tragedy, lost his daughter Danika when she died last year following a brief cancer battle at the age of 33.
He said: “I’m talking about her and I’m still just hoping she’s going to walk through the door.
“It’s like it all happened so quickly. I lost my dad at 52 and I lost my brother – 33, 34 – to suicide.
“But they pale in comparison to losing your child.”
