World renowned boxing promoter Bob Arum has stated that he is cutting ties with Daniel Kinahan on account of the US government-imposed sanctions on the Kinahan organised crime group.
Arum is the CEO of Top Rank boxing and involved in the promotion of world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, and has previously admitted to enjoying a working relationship with the Dubliner.
However, in light of the US government’s stance on the Kinahan organised crime group, Arum has confirmed that he will have no more business with the Irishman.
"I'm a law-abiding American citizen and I will adhere to those sanctions," said Arum, speaking to ESPN.
"[I will] not have any business relationship or any other relationship with him, period. End of story. There's not even an argument there.
"The US government doesn't make an allegation like this unless there is evidence to back it up.
"So, case closed. You cannot take the US position and treat it lightly. It's very, very serious for the US to say what they've said."
Arum is the first major figure in boxing to come out since yesterday's announcement of the sanctions in Dublin, which included a plea from Garda Commissioner Drew Harris for those in sport with ties to Kinahan to reconsider.
Kinahan has been involved in professional boxing, as an advisor to world heavyweight champion Fury and other fighters, many of whom are represented by MTK Sports, a management company that has a partnership with Kinahan.
The US government has imposed sanctions on the three most senior members of the Kinahan organised crime group and offered a reward of up to $5m for information leading to their arrest or the financial disruption of the gang.
Daniel Kinahan, who has been named in the High Court as the controller and manager of the Kinahan gang, his father Christopher Snr, a convicted drug trafficker, and brother Christopher Jnr, who was caught travelling on a false identity document in Germany, have all been placed on an Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list, a list of the US Treasury Department.
Arum claimed that he would now deal directly with Fury or his lawyer and implied that the relationship with Kinahan was already coming to an end.
"We are not going to deal with Kinahan and his people. We will deal directly [with Fury] or his lawyer Robert Davis," said Arum, speaking to the Daily Mail.
"I was not pleased with a number of things he [Kinahan] was doing in boxing. I was looking to sever ties anyway."
Arum also called Kinahan "an honourable man", while interviewed on Newstalk last summer, however, in a further interview with the Irish radio station he emphasised that there would be no further dealing.
"[Kinahan has] been very honourable [in our dealings]," said Arum, previously.
"What he did before, what he didn’t do before; f***ing [Don] King stomped a guy’s head in and did that stop King from being a major promoter for most of my career?"
"I did say that, you're absolutely correct," said Arum in relation to the "honourable" statement.
"I don't want to at this particularly point talk about my personal dealings with him since that point for various reasons. All I'm going to say is I can't deal with him in the future because of the position of my government.
"It’s at least two months and it might be three - we haven’t communicated," he added.
"Unless something obviously dramatically changes, which I can’t foresee, I will not do business with Kinahan based on these assertions by my government."
