MTK Global, a boxing promotion and management company co-founded by Daniel Kinahan, has announced it will cease operations at the end of the month.
In a statement issued on their website, they claimed "leading boxing promoters have now informed us that they will be severing all ties with MTK and will no longer work with our fighters".
They added their gyms will remain open for the foreseeable future, claiming they operate "independently".
Last week MTK Global released a statement promising to "take every measure to ensure" it complies with US sanctions and conduct no business with Daniel Kinahan in future.
Daniel Kinahan, who has been named in the High Court as the controller and manager of the Kinahan crime organisation, has been placed on an Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list, which is a list of the US Treasury Department.
MTK stated that Kinahan has had no involvement in the company since 2017, when the co-founder parted ways with the company.
Today's statement by MTK Global claims that "as a business we have faced unprecedented levels of unfair scrutiny and criticism since the sanctioning by the US government of Daniel Joseph Kinahan".
They added that "unfounded allegations about his ongoing association with us and our fighters persist".
In 2020, MTK released a statement welcoming a partnership with Kinahan and the Dubai-based KHK Sports, which had appointed the Dubliner as a special advisor a week earlier.
In the 2020 press release from MTK, Kinahan was quoted as saying: "This is a monumental move for KHK Sports and MTK Global. Both organisations have been making substantial waves in the international combats sports landscape and combined, the sky is the limit in what they can achieve."
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In May 2020, former MTK CEO Sandra Vaughan said in an interview that Kinahan advised fighters to sign management deals with MTK and operated as an independent advisor to some of their fighters.
In a later statement she clarified that "(He) hasn't got anything to do with MTK Global. We manage fighters: that’s our role. A fighter has a team. Not just a manager — a team: a trainer, a cutman, a nutritionist, an S&C coach, and 99% of the time they will have an advisor.
"That can be Daniel, that can be a family member, it could be a cousin or a father. There is always somebody around them that is giving them advice. We don’t employ any of these people. They have got no official connection to MTK Global."
KHK announced later in May 2021 that it had parted company with Kinahan, citing its "integrity" and "principles".
MTK’s most recent CEO, Bob Yalen, resigned yesterday, citing personal reasons, before today’s development.
"I am incredibly proud of the success of MTK Global and I feel privileged to have served as president and CEO since 2018," Mr Yalen said in a statement issued on the company website.
"However, the pressure of the last few weeks has been particularly intense. I need to consider the impact on myself and my family. So after four years leading MTK, I think it’s time for me to step aside to take on new challenges."
