Indosnews- Indonesia
A leading boxing “fixer” says international crime boss Daniel Kinahan secretly struck a multi-million dollar deal with global fight promoter Top Rank to be its exclusive consultant outside of the U.S.
By Fergus Shie
Former Top Rank agent William (Billy) Keane claims in a lawsuit filed in California that the “under the table” deal was struck after Kinahan had helped him to get world champion Tyson Fury to agree to a rematch fight with Deontay Wilder.
Keane, who is suing the Nevada-based promoter for in excess of $25 million, plus interest, in allegedly unpaid fees, claims that he spent $27,000 courting Kinahan and Fury in Dubai for Top Rank in January 2019 ahead of the fighter’s change of promoters the following month.
On April 12, 2022, the U.S. State Department announced a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Daniel Kinahan for participating in transnational organized crime, namely narcotics trafficking and money laundering. Image: Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program
Authorities in the United States, Ireland and other countries accuse Kinahan of running a deadly global cartel with his father and younger brother and have offered rewards of up to $15 million for information leading to their arrest and conviction.
Keane says Top Rank president Todd duBoef was desperate to woo Fury away from Warren because Top Rank needed a new star fighter to satisfy the sports broadcaster ESPN, with which it had signed a contract extension to a “$90 million/year” rights deal.
But deBoef admonished Keane that ESPN could not find out that Kinahan was involved because the Irish press had reported that Kinahan was the leader of a drug cartel, and if duBoef were linked to him, ESPN might be forced to terminate their contract, Keane’s court filing says.
“It had been more than six months since Top Rank signed the 2018 ESPN Extension, Top Rank was earning more money under the new deal terms but had not yet signed any new, meaningful talent, ESPN was not happy ..,” the filing adds.
In a statement to ICIJ, duBoef’s attorney, Daniel Petrocelli, rejected Keane’s court claims, saying: “Nothing was secret. [Keane’s] allegations are false and his lawsuit is frivolous.”
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