Irish Examiner View: Boxing’s netherworld

Professional boxing operates in a netherworld.

The brutality in the ring can be reflected in how the business of the often savage spectacle is conducted.

Speaking in the Dáil this week Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Department of Foreign Affairs has contacted the United Arab Emirates, where Dubliner Daniel Kinahan is based.

Kinahan has been credited with securing two lucrative bouts between heavyweights Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

Boxing doyen Bob Arum, who managed Muhammed Ali, says Kinahan is “an honourable man”.

The Kinahan drug cartel has been implicated in 18 murders here and in Spain over the last five years.

The High Court named Kinahan as a senior figure in organised crime on a global scale.

Professional boxing has declined in popularity, but Joshua’s victory over Andy Ruiz last year in Saudia Arabia brought in millions of viewers.

These bouts are about money, rather than sport. The Irish Examiner will not give publicity or coverage to the fights.

Keep your credit card in your pocket and watch a film instead.