Bob Arum, Frank Warren, Tyson Fury Questioned About Daniel Kinahan Amid MTK Global Ceasing Operations

Those who have had connections with Daniel Kinahan in the past continue to get questioned.

This time, the questions have made its way to promoters Bob Arum of Top Rank and Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions and WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

Arum told The Irish Mirror that he paid consulting fees to Kinahan for four of Fury’s fights, but Kinahan was cut off of negotiations for Saturday’s fight against Whyte.

Arum said he will no longer do business with Kinahan.

“For Fury versus Whyte, Frank and I drew the line,” Arum told The Mirror. “We would not talk to him and we would not deal with him.”

But Warren, Fury’s co-promoter, pushed back and said neither him nor Fury were aware of the payments made to Kinahan.

“I certainly knew, and Tyson certainly knew, nothing about the payments made by Top Rank to the company in the Middle East,” Warren said.

“That’s their business. It has nothing to do with us. It certainly has nothing to do with me and as I say, Tyson was unaware of it, and that’s the position. That is something for Top Rank to sort out. It was them that made the payments and it was their arrangement.”

Kinahan was recently sanctioned by the U.S. government and is facing allegations of drug trafficking and money laundering. The government also put a $5 million bounty on him for anyone with information who could lead to his arrest.

He was identified as one of the key leaders of the crime group.

On Tuesday, Fury denied he paid Kinahan and said that Kinahan’s problems are not a concern to him.

“It’s none of my business. I keep my own business to myself, that’s it,” Fury said.

“That’s Bob Arum’s own personal business what he does with his own money, he can spend it all on gummy bears if he wants to,” Fury said.

A photo of Fury and Kinahan has made its rounds on the internet, and when asked about it during open workouts, Fury said:

“A picture doesn’t mean I am a criminal? I can’t control who is in the building. There could be a criminal in this building now. It doesn’t mean I am involved in his criminal activity, does it?”

MTK Global, which Kinahan founded in 2012 as MGM, announced on Wednesday morning that they are ceasing their global operations.

“As a business we have faced unprecedented levels of unfair scrutiny and criticism since the sanctioning by the US Government of Daniel Joseph Kinahan,” the statement read.

“It is a matter of public record that Mr Kinahan’s involvement in MTK ceased in 2017, and despite repeated reassurances in this regard, unfounded allegations about his ongoing association with us and our fighters persist.

“Since leading promoters have now informed us that they will be severing all ties with MTK and will no longer work with our fighters, we have taken the difficult decision to cease operations at the end of this month.”

Eurosport also announced that they shelved plans to broadcast future events by Probellum. Probellum’s president, Richard Schaefer, insisted there’s no connection between his company and Kinahan.